Extending the first-day-of-work excitement to the rest of the employee experience
While employers have made strides to improve aspects of the employee experience, a new study reveals that employees believe there is still a gap between good and great.First, consider a few positive stats. A new survey from LIKE.TG shows that 85% of employees are enthusiastic about their position and company when starting a new job, and 72% report a positive experience during their first few weeks.But for many workers, starting a new gig is the peak of their employee experience. When asked to consider how their experience is today, just 63% continue to be enthusiastic about their position and the company.How do organizations ensure that your first day won’t end up being your best day? That drop in satisfaction suggests early positive feelings aren’t lasting. Where are the key areas for organizations to improve?There are countless moments in the employee experience that impact an employee’s experience with work and their relationship with their employer. Our research suggests a number of critical insights:Day-to-day experiences matterFirst, recognize that it’s not just the big moments that capture an employee’s experience. For example, our research shows that employees don’t find it easy to get simple things done, including finding information about a company policy (41%), resolving an issue logging in to software (46%), or getting a question answered about their benefits (45%).Mobile device access is a gateway to productivity as well. In fact, 63% of employees with access to mobile tools believe it improves their ability to access needed information and 47% believe it helps improve their ability to get work done.Employees see these as table stakes, while companies struggle to provide these basic support functions. And as organizations grow, so does the disconnect.Big moments matter, tooWe also need to recognize that workers need to know employers care about the big moments too, such as pre-boarding activities, offboarding to a new job, or taking parental leave. When it comes to these big moments, employees specifically state that employers could positively improve the employee experience with better support staff, better access to information, and better access to communication tools.Even though employees are excited when starting new jobs, the pre-boarding process needs improvement. Less than 60% believe their employer clearly communicated what to expect on their first day and just a third of employers made it easy to complete pre-hire paperwork on a mobile device.Employees reveal some especially interesting insights regarding offboarding and leave. For offboarding, two thirds of employees (67%) report that their former employer didn’t conduct an exit interview. A negative offboarding process speaks volumes about whether an employee would return: Only 43% would consider working for their former employer in the future, and only 42% would refer a friend or colleague to their former employer.For leave, the numbers aren’t much better. Nearly half of employees don’t find it easy to hand off work before a leave of absence, and even fewer say the same about picking up projects upon returning from a leave of absence. This means the organization’s interest in “collaboration” is only going so far.A holistic experienceLeaders should recognize that the employee experience is about far more than individual moments, whether big or small. It’s a holistic experience that employees engage with every day.With all the talk of the employee experience today, are employers missing the mark on what really matters? Have employers been focused on everything but the service experience at work?Recall that less than half of employees feel that finding basic, everyday information about their jobs and benefits comes easily to them. There’s also a gap between the positive emotions employees experience as they start a new job and their emotions after a few weeks or months in the job.There is, however, a solution to these and many other problems, a solution that can alleviate concerns from employers and employees alike. According to our survey, 77% of employees expect their companies to offer a portal to access information in one central location.A better service experienceHR is often playing catch-up at most organizations to create consumer-like experiences for new hires. To make real change, employers should consider the service experience holistically across the entire employee journey.Making real progress may require employers to remove the burden of deciphering where to go and what to do. Employers should be offering employees easy self-service in the flow of their work. Employees should have the option to click, swipe, or chat to resolve an issue anytime and anywhere. And employees need to be better equipped with what they need during those important moments of change.Download our full free report on the employee's point of view on employee experience. You will find even more areas where organizations can improve the holistic experience and harness the consumer innovations that employees expect in their work life.
Fast time to value: Introducing the Now Platform Washington, D.C., release
Organizations are under more pressure than ever to maximize the benefits of their digital transformation technology investments. Those that use technology to ramp up productivity will leapfrog the competition.At LIKE.TG, we’re excited to support organizations in their digital transformation journeys. The Now Platform® Washington, D.C., release, available today, is designed to do exactly that. The innovations in this release deliver intelligent automation, simplified experiences, and extensibility—complemented by generative AI (GenAI)—for fast time to value.
Fast-track cloud transformation with LIKE.TG Cloud Solutions
“By 2028, more than 50% of enterprises will use industry cloud platforms to accelerate their business initiatives,” according to Gartner®.1 However, adopting a multicloud strategy across multiple public cloud providers with no standard operating model often results in a fragmented operating environment.That’s why we at LIKE.TG are excited to announce comprehensive, end-to-end Cloud Solutions offerings built on the Now Platform®. LIKE.TG simplifies and automates complex cloud processes with cloud workflows, enabling customers to deliver a unified operational model and remove complexity from multicloud environments.These innovations are part of our ongoing mission to enable customers to accelerate cloud transformation in hybrid and cloud-native environments on a single, unified platform—powered by AI. With the LIKE.TG® platform, customers have a single pane of glass to manage operational and business aspects of cloud transformation.“LIKE.TG’s innovation in automating critical business processes with workflow solutions across the entire IT estate is unparalleled,” says Pablo Stern, senior vice president and general manager of LIKE.TG technology workflows. “With LIKE.TG Cloud Solutions, we’re bringing those same workflow principles to enable cloud transformation.”Unified platform for cloud transformationThe move to the cloud has the potential to bring huge benefits, but organizations need a structured approach to planning, scaling, and operating the cloud to realize its full potential.Using Common Services Data Model (CSDM) guidance along with Cloud Solutions, customers can accelerate their cloud transformation journey in three critical ways:1. Plan application modernizationModernize enterprise architecture by rationalizing applications to reduce software and hardware costs using Application Portfolio Management. 2. Scale cloud processesIncrease cloud visibility and enable self-service with compliance, cost, and security controls through Cloud Accelerate and Cloud Cost Management. 3. Operate cloud services with resilienceIncrease agility and reliability by operating hybrid cloud and cloud-native environments with AIOps, Cloud Observability, and Security. Driving innovation in the cloudCombining the power of these integrated solutions on the LIKE.TG platform can accelerate an organization’s cloud transformation journey while delivering superior employee and customer experiences.Cloud Solutions includes recent innovations that can support your cloud journey, regardless of where you are. Here are some of the highlights: ITOM Cloud Discovery, the foundation for cloud process automation with near-real-time event-driven discovery of cloud assets ITOM Cloud Accelerate cloud enablement functionality on top of cloud discovery for self-service with compliance ITAM Cloud Cost Management, which works with Cloud Accelerate workflows to provide proactive cost controls for cloud self-service that includes container spend management for Kubernetes clusters Cloud Observability integration with ITOM AIOps via a native integration so that organizations can unify observability and AIOps SecOps Cloud Vulnerability Response integrates with vulnerability scanners and enables remediation of cloud vulnerabilities Find out more about how LIKE.TG Cloud Solutions helps organizations accelerate cloud transformation.1 Gartner press release, Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations & Cloud Strategies Conference 2023 London: Day 1 Highlights, Nov. 20, 2023.GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
Federal 100 list highlights impact of LIKE.TG federal solutions
We’re proud to announce that Steve Walters, senior vice president of federal solutions at LIKE.TG, has been named to the 2024 Federal 100 list. Published annually by NextGov/FCW, the list recognizes outstanding individuals who went above and beyond in support of federal IT in the previous year.For Steve, the accolade is much bigger than himself. We sat down with Steve to learn more about the award and its significance.What does the Federal 100 award mean to you?I’m honored and humbled by this award. It recognizes 100 individuals from the federal community who have a passion for improving the government’s mission and helping it deliver value to its constituents. When you look at the list, it’s pretty impressive. It’s humbling to be included on this list of technologists, leaders, and innovators.But I don’t see this recognition as something about Steve Walters. I really see this as a reflection of the great work that the LIKE.TG federal team has done in partnership with our customers, of the impact we’re making across the federal government.I also think it’s a recognition of the evolution that LIKE.TG has undergone over the years. It’s not just about IT Service Management. It’s about the LIKE.TG platform and the mission outcomes that we’re delivering in partnership with our customers.What's the state of public sector digital transformation?There’s never been a better time than right now to accelerate the digital transformation journey that our customers have either started or are about to embark on. We’re at an inflection point where the big goals that our government has for digital transformation and the capabilities of the technology are starting to come together.There’s been a big gap in those two principles for some time. So when we talk about accelerating digital transformation, that time is now. What are some of the big challenges federal agencies face?One challenge is mission resiliency. It’s not just about completing your mission. It’s really about how agencies can continue their missions when there’s digital disruption—a catastrophic event, systems going down, the next pandemic, or a cyberattack. How does an agency continue to function when something like that happens?Another thing agencies are dealing with is how to improve the employee and constituent experience. How can they provide world-class employee experiences from day 1, when an employee starts, and throughout their employment? Do they have the very best platform to achieve their mission or their task for their constituents?The last piece is around modernizing legacy systems. In many cases, the systems work, but the experience for employees and constituents is from like 10 to 15 years ago. So, how can you modernize that very quickly without introducing more technical debt, reduce the overall risk to the government, and then increase time to value?How does LIKE.TG help address these pain points?We bring people, systems, data, and organizations together across the entire enterprise, and we bring that back in a consumable manner so that leaders and employees can then take action. We do that through our digital workflows and hyperautomation.Much like the iPhone revolutionized the mobile consumer experience by bringing technologies back to a single platform, we’re doing that at the enterprise level for the workforce on a single platform, the Now Platform. That’s how we can help address those three challenges.For example, a large federal agency recently realized it needed to modernize the veteran onboarding experience. The agency’s HR system did what it was supposed to do, but not having connectivity on mobile devices or being able to tie into other systems was a huge gap.LIKE.TG was able to partner with another company and modernize that experience while keeping the HR system in place. This reduced the risk and improved the experience in less than 12 months. The agency got the time-to-value piece and didn’t take on additional technical debt because it didn’t have to rip and replace.What role does AI play in the public sector?As in the private sector, there’s tremendous interest in AI and, more specifically, generative AI (GenAI) in the public sector. The opportunities and the interests are huge.It’s important to understand that disruptive technologies have come and gone before. What's different about GenAI is that it can accelerate digital transformation at a much faster rate than any other disruptive technology in history.The key piece here is that if you’re really going to harness the opportunities of GenAI, it can’t be treated as a single disruptive technology. The real power comes when you combine GenAI with a platform like ServiceNow. Those together are what really accelerate transformation around the mission and around the employee-constituent experience.As I said, we’re at an inflection point. The federal government has a lot of very big goals. And it has access to technology that can meet those goals. It’s not just about digital transformation anymore. It's about accelerating the transformation journey. That’s really what’s ahead of us.Find out more about how LIKE.TG helps federal government simplify workflows and accelerate digital transformation.
Field service experience could be the next business differentiator
We’ve all suffered that common irritation: “A service person will be at your house sometime between 9 am and 4 pm.” In our personal lives, that can mean frustration and inconvenience. For businesses, that broad window of uncertainty can add up to real money in lost productivity.Both scenarios can chip away at customer confidence and satisfaction. In increasingly competitive marketplaces, those agitations can even be enough to push a customer to look elsewhere.“Field service can, and should, be a revenue-generating, strategic differentiator for your organization,” says Bulent Cinarkaya, vice president of field service management for ServiceNow.The role of field service professionalsIt’s important to remember how customers view great experiences. For most, a great experience is one that’s effortless: service delivered easily and smoothly with no surprises.By and large, the most powerful deliverer of those great customer experiences is a field service professional.These are the people who are the face of your organization outside your physical or virtual walls. They’re 100% in the realm of the customer—whether in a home or at a business. They include equipment installers and maintainers, as well as healthcare providers and financial consultants.Field service workers are the eyes and ears on the ground. They listen, observe, and communicate back insights that enable you to meet and anticipate your customers’ needs, and grow your business.Empowering field workersHow do you empower your field to consistently keep you in the best light with customers? It starts with a foundation that can strengthen every element of your field service operations: a technology platform that can make work easier and better for everyone—managers, dispatchers, field workers, third-party contractors, and cross-functional teams.To do this well, your tech platform should tap process automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and low-code tools to work in new ways and evolve with your changing needs.Reaping rewardsOn average, a single system of operations can yield a 310% return on investment, according to a LIKE.TG-commissioned Forrester study.1 That return is driven by more flexible and muscular processes that unify and focus your field efforts completely on customer satisfaction. For example: Antares Vision customers are asking for high-value service-level agreements. Avarn Security is driving increased technician productivity and happier customer engagement with a single system of operations. Tunstall is using automation to provide world-class service. Princeton University is realizing “significant operational efficiencies” which, in turn, better serve its customers. Jigsaw24 is working more intelligently, which helps it keep customers more fully informed. Click the image below to see an infographic that explores how LIKE.TG® Field Service Management can help you deliver frictionless experiences.Accessibility note: The infographic is transcribed at the end of this blog. Transcript of infographicThe field service experienceThe next big differentiator for your businessYour customers rely on field service experts to make things happen and fix issues the first time.Your business relies on them to deliver the kind of service that builds strong relationships and supports revenue growth.LIKE.TG Field Service Management (FSM) helps you: Reduce cost and increase revenue Retain, recruit, and onboard the best talent Prioritize safety Be proactive and predictive Strengthen contactless service Improve scheduling Empower and enable people to do their best work Enhance communication We empower organizations to deliver outstanding, frictionless experiences to customers and employees.Reduce cost and increase revenueTake field service from cost to value creation. LIKE.TG FSM enables you to adapt, innovate, and grow—at speed and scale.“Customers are happy...and are asking for high-value service-level agreements.” - Alessandro la Greca, Technical Service Manager, Antares VisionRetain, recruit, and onboard the best talentLIKE.TG FSM makes work easier, so employees feel valued and stay longer. It also helps you capture and share the experience of a retiring workforce.“We appreciate the close partnership with the LIKE.TG FSM team...and their commitment to continuous improvement.” - Adam Ouellette, ITSM Process Specialist, Princeton UniversityPrioritize safetyWith enhanced tracking and step-by-step safety guidance, LIKE.TG FSM enables you to meet expectations and regulations and gives you peace of mind.“LIKE.TG FSM is helping us to increase the productivity of our technicians and enhance customer satisfaction.” - Kjetil Kaarstein, Department Manager, Custom Development & Integration, Avarn Security NorwayBe proactive and predictiveWith AI-powered predictive analytics, machine learning, and process automation, LIKE.TG FSM helps you anticipate and meet your customers’ needs.“LIKE.TG helps us to provide a world-class service.” - Mikael Kluger, IT Support and Services Operations Director, Tunstall NordicStrengthen contactless servicePowerful self-service tools and innovative technologies such as augmented reality support both physical and virtual field service needs.“Xerox and CareAR are working with LIKE.TG to adapt the way we serve customers, using AI to help strengthen the customer experience.” - Steve Bandrowczak, President and Chief Operations Officer, XeroxImprove scheduling and utilizationLIKE.TG FSM matches skills, availability, and location for dynamic, automatic scheduling that reduces travel and costs and increases productivity and customer satisfaction.“We have realized significant operational efficiencies with our FSM and mobile app implementations.” - Adam Ouellette, ITSM Process Specialist, Princeton UniversityEmpower people to do their best workOptimize processes and give everyone the visibility they need. With LIKE.TG FSM, people can excel in their roles and focus on high-value work.“LIKE.TG makes the administration so much easier...I have more time for the customer and the fun part of my job.” - Dion Olie, Field Service Engineer, Scheidt and BachmannEnhance communicationThe FSM mobile app provides team-wide visibility, making it easier for teams to collaborate. LIKE.TG provides the insight you need to keep customers in the loop with advance warning and accurate updates.“We’re working faster and more intelligently with LIKE.TG, keeping our customers informed more effectively and more frequently.” - Ross Buntain, Operations Director, Jigsaw24“Field service can, and should, be a revenue-generating, strategic differentiator for your organization. And we’re here to make that happen.” - Bulent Cinarkaya, GM of Field Service Management, LIKE.TGRead our ebook to find out more.1 The Total Economic Impact of LIKE.TG Field Service Management, Forrester, December 2020
Finance and supply chain meet LIKE.TG workflows
Few areas of business have faced more pressure over the last three years than finance and supply chain teams. Yet most are stuck managing this upheaval with manual activities and processes that haven’t changed much since the last enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation.The systems and tools these departments traditionally rely on lack the agility needed to excel in today’s business reality. That’s why we’re introducing LIKE.TG Finance and Supply Chain Workflows. Our customers asked us to step into this space with the same approach to innovation they know firsthand from our transformational work in IT, customer, and employee workflows—making work easier, faster, and more effective.Increasing control and visibilityOur first focus area in Finance and Supply Chain Workflows is source-to-pay. Every company is looking to take cost out of their business operations. Indirect procurement is one of the biggest levers for doing so.LIKE.TG Source-to-Pay Operations automates processes and activities for internal and external teams involved in sourcing, procuring, and paying for the goods and services necessary to run the business.The solution gives teams the control, visibility, and bandwidth they need to handle more procurement and sourcing requests using existing resources. This in turn enables organizations to consistently hit their procurement goals, such as sourcing from more sustainable suppliers, minimizing risk, and reducing total spend.Agility is the new process optimization. Getting there requires getting everyone on the same page. You can’t waste effort and resources on manual tasks—there are too many other things to do. And it needs to be easy because everything can change quickly, including people, processes, customers, and opportunities.Delivering 3 key outcomesAs we expand our workflow footprint in the finance and supply chain space, we’ll focus on delivering three key outcomes: Unification: Many companies struggle to manage diverse and sprawling landscapes with processes that span multiple systems. This frustrates employees and can lead to suboptimal decisions and outcomes. With LIKE.TG, you can unify people, processes, data, and technology across your entire organization into one easy-to-use experience. Everyone benefits from a single source of truth. Simplification: Employees frequently wade from one system to another in a quest to get work done. The administrative overhead of remembering how to complete a task lengthens onboarding for new employees, aggravates experienced employees, and encourages out-of-process workarounds. LIKE.TG helps simplify the way work gets done with a single environment and low-code tools that streamline everyday activities and eliminate technical debt. Acceleration: Many organizations continue to rely on the processes they implemented a decade or more ago—even as their business changes or new systems and data sources are added. Employees must switch screens, manually compile data, and process every transaction. LIKE.TG accelerates transaction throughput and employee productivity so people can accomplish more. AI and robotic process automation (RPA) eliminate routine, mundane tasks, freeing employees to focus on higher-value activities. Unshackling agilityMost of us would agree that agility is the key to business success. If that’s true, what’s holding everyone back? Why do employees still default to emails, spreadsheets, and shared folders?As it turns out, a lot of activities take place before and between transactions in any given business system: sourcing, ERP, and inventory, among others. Most companies choose to accept this process debt. Too often, it’s because they don’t have a choice—the technical debt of past customization decisions is killing their process agility.Updates to processes inside ERP and similar systems often take too long to realize. Moving to a modern ERP environment would solve a lot of challenges, but getting there can be a huge undertaking. So employees revert to emails, spreadsheets, and everything else.LIKE.TG workflows deliver the process agility you need to create and capture new opportunities or respond to disruption in an increasingly winner-takes-most business environment.Find out more about the benefits of Finance and Supply Chain Workflows.
Finding our purpose as LIKE.TG co-ops
Lauren Canney co-authored this blog post, the third in a three-part series about the LIKE.TG co-op program for college students.We’ve discussed what it’s like to be a LIKE.TG co-op and how personal experiences help us adapt to the workplace. Once we dive into our roles, we realize that LIKE.TG is much more than a tech company. It’s a community where we all contribute to fulfilling our purpose to make the world work better for everyone.Pairing creativity and innovationWith experience leading a team of 20 designers at Northeastern University, Max S., an event field marketing co-op, brings a wealth of creative knowledge to his role. His LIKE.TG team has been more than happy to tap into his creative skills and innovative ideas.Max has worked on a range of projects at LIKE.TG, including web design, where he’s learned to balance creative thinking with exceeding customer expectations.“These projects are great for my creativity because I get to test out what pictures work best, what layout is most appropriate for what the customers are looking for, and what LIKE.TG is looking to offer our customers,” he says.Michele G. has had a similar experience. Outside of work, she's a musician who enjoys turning her emotions into poems and songs.As a marketing co-op for corporate events, she gets to express that same creativity and personal tone in her favorite project, “happy Monday posts,” which are weekly updates for our internal network about LIKE.TG’s flagship Knowledge event. Engaging in a supportive communityFor Emma T., another corporate events marketing co-op, seeing how the LIKE.TG community supports each other has been one of her favorite experiences while working here.“I'm put in a better mood because of how nice the people at LIKE.TG are and how I see them interact with me as a stranger to them,” she says.“I think my ‘aha moment’ when working at LIKE.TG has been seeing people from different backgrounds come together to support one another,” adds Richard Z., a digital acquisition strategy and operations marketing co-op. “When everyone has a shared experience, that’s what I enjoy about working together in projects.”Max emphasizes the people as well. “The world works because of people who care,” he says. "I have a team that prioritizes community and respects inquiry—not sure what else I could ask for.”Although our time as LIKE.TG co-ops is limited, we're grateful for the skills we develop, the work experience we gain, and the connections we make with our colleagues. By dreaming big and embodying the People Pact and company values, we can make the world work better—even if we’re just one small part.Join a company where you can play an active role in fulfilling our purpose. Explore LIKE.TG early careers.
First Generation Professionals share career obstacles and triumphs
Every year, LIKE.TG welcomes multiple cohorts of early-in-career (EIC) co-ops and interns to help them build valuable skills with meaningful projects, mentorship, and networking opportunities. I’m fortunate to be one of those co-ops. I’m also the first person in my family to go to college.To welcome our summer 2023 interns, I pitched the idea of facilitating a live panel event on the LIKE.TG Early Careers LinkedIn page with First Generation Professionals (FGPs)—those who’ve moved from working-class roots to professional corporate careers and are the first in their families to complete higher education.The livestreamed event allowed three LIKE.TG employees to share about their humble beginnings, dealing with code-switching and imposter syndrome, carrying others through their journeys, learning how to self-advocate, finding mentors and sponsors along the way, and celebrating their proudest accomplishments.Growth through challenges“When you’re a first-generation [professional], it’s a lonely place,” says Yolanda I. from Mexico City. After a long career in the U.S. Army and Department of Defense, she joined LIKE.TG as a senior manager on the support account services management team. “You want to make sure you pave the way for others,” she adds. Senior Technical Trainer Andrew B., whose parents came from Trinidad, ventured into many industries before joining ServiceNow. Patience is the key to accomplishing most things in life when things don’t go your way, he says. “You gotta learn how to love to fail. Failure has so much positiveness.”Andrew founded The Social Tea House, where he blends East Asian cultures with the sale of teas and educational materials, which he continues to work on outside of ServiceNow. “Don’t be comfortable,” he advises. “Never be comfortable. And continue to try. The more you try, the more you fail—the more you’re going to get somewhere.”Failure can be discouraging. Sometimes we wait for a sense of motivation to get us back in the swing of things. But “motivation is overrated,” according to Yolanda. “We want to be motivated to do everything, but sometimes you’re just not going to be,” she says.Self-advocacyMotivation can make the things we do seem a little more exciting and worthwhile, but discipline plays a bigger role. Confidence is an important part too, as I’ve found in my experience as an FGP student. Despite having the discipline to get up and do something every day, it can be difficult to advocate for yourself.“We want other folks to talk about us because we don’t want to feel like we’re bragging,” Andrew says. “We want others to promote us.”“Most of us come from humble beginnings,” Yolanda adds, “but there’s a difference between self-promoting and bragging. Your hard work is only going to get you so far. You have to self-promote. You can work really hard and get overlooked for people who are self-promoting.”It’s important to reassure ourselves that we’re in the place we are for a reason. That doesn’t mean we have to forget where we came from. Rather, we need to recognize the distance we’ve traveled to be where we are and remember the hard work it took to get here. It should be something to be proud of. We shouldn’t be afraid to celebrate our wins and demonstrate our capabilities.“Sometimes you gotta run your own race and stay true to who you are,” says Chris R., senior manager of marketing culture and engagement. “You’ll look back 10 to 15 years later and see you were right where you were supposed to be,” he says.Chris grew up in Lakeland, Florida, where he honed his football skills and earned a scholarship to The University of Alabama. While there, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s in sports management. “Sometimes you have to grow into that confidence and know who you are and what you are,” he adds. MentorshipKnowing who and what you are is often easier said than done. Chris reminds us that in order to be the best version of ourselves, we need to take the advice of those who’ve navigated our career path before us so that we can continue to grow and do our best work.“People nowadays don’t like to receive feedback, or they take it as criticism,” he explains. “If you want to invest time in me, give it to me because I want to be the best version of myself. I think that’s why some people have a hard time finding sponsors or mentors—because when you do get that person, they don’t have a lot of time to invest in you. But when they do, they’re going to give you blunt, honest, unfiltered stuff that may hurt your feelings. You gotta take that and make it better and continue to be the best version of yourself.”Giving backMentors aren’t the only people who advise us and guide our career decisions. Many FGPs feel an obligation to give back to those who’ve helped them along the way.“Another responsibility on top of being a husband, buying a house, and all this other stuff you want to do is [giving back to your family],” Chris says. “It’s kind of like ‘I made it,’ but I never would have made it without their sacrifices. It’s embedded [in us] that you’re supposed to take care of your family.”“It’s also that you want to do it,” Yolanda adds. “It was my mother and father’s hard work that got me here, so you do want to pay it back to them.”Although there’s no secret formula for navigating the challenges we face as FGPs, LIKE.TG will continue to foster a culture of belonging, celebrating the diversity of our global team.As long as we continue to share our experiences with each other and with those who have yet to understand the things we carry, we’ll be able to nurture and embrace an inclusive community that serves people from all over the world.Join a company that celebrates diversity and creates belonging. Explore LIKE.TG careers.
First Impressions Matter: Onboarding Experience That Helps Your Employees Feel Cared For and Supported
A candidate's first impression starts off with the first time they interact with your organization. This means every correspondence matters. You can ensure your candidate's experience stands out by starting off with an exceptional recruiting process and solid communication with an employee app. However, once a candidate accepts an offer, the onboarding experience can be the difference between having a happy and motivated new hire or one that feels disengaged. Read on to discover how your HR Team can create a robust onboarding experience that helps your employees feel cared about, supported, and set up for success. Prevent Confusion During Onboarding New hires may find onboarding to be a time-consuming and tedious process. From filling out countless forms correctly to compiling personal documents, and understanding who to contact for support can frustrate new talent quickly. Instead, take the time to streamline the onboarding process to prevent confusion. Utilize HR tools by creating personalized portals for each of your new hires. This helps to organize everything for both you and your employee in a convenient and straightforward way. This way, an employee can see all of their personal information, and file and sign all of the necessary forms from one centralized hub. Not only that, but employees will appreciate the custom onboarding workflows and pointers along the way to help them complete everything that is necessary. No more need to worry about remembering when things are due. With a streamlined onboarding process, employees will have one less thing to worry about and can focus their attention on craft development instead. Empower New Hires to Utilize Employee Assistance Programs & Resources Starting a new job is both stressful and exciting. New hires may have a lot of questions, concerns, and even self-doubt throughout the onboarding process and beyond. Therefore, help your new hires be in the know about what resources they can take advantage of, and highlight the unique programs HR provides or has partnerships with. It’s important to do so because sometimes highlighting these programs becomes lost or quickly glossed over. For instance, according to a Mental Health America survey, less than half of the employees surveyed knew about their company’s mental health services. Therefore, it would be helpful to have a centralized resource page that employees can easily navigate so they are aware of the programs offered. For instance, your resource hub can include things like online therapy support, self-help tools, work stress-reducing tips and strategy guides, information on PTO benefits, sick time, family leave, and mental wellness policies for example. In addition, ensure that your new hires know about other opportunities they may have like continued learning, self-service tools, and who may be their HR trusted point of contact. To round out your employee assistance and resources programs, you can foster employee wellness by using your intranet as well. “As soon as we saw LIKE.TG’s Onboard demo, we knew this was the perfect solution for us. We loved that it was extremely simple and powerful out of the box, but that we could customize it with advanced capabilities to make it work in our company setting.” Elisa Garn Vice President, HR and Talent Christopherson Business Travel Learn More Provide Mentorship Getting accustomed to a new role, organization, and workflows can be a big adjustment and be very stressful. To ensure your new hires have a thorough introduction to their roles and responsibilities, HR can have a mentorship program in place that can help employees feel supported rather than floundering and figuring things out on their own through trial and error. Having a mentor allows a new employee to have someone to trust and turn to for feedback, reassurance, and a go-to contact to ask questions and receive individualized training and support. Simply attending training workshops is typically not as engaging as a mentorship program. A mentorship program allows onboarding to be more personalized and tailored to the needs of each employee's learning style and skill set focus. Taking the time to have a mentorship program will be well worth the investment. It can help with time to proficiency, morale, and job satisfaction. In fact, research conducted by MentorcliQ, found that of participants, “83% of mentors and mentees said that their mentoring experience positively influenced their desire to stay at their organization.” Boosting retention is huge for organizations. This allows HR teams to focus on retention initiatives rather than constantly having to focus on candidate sourcing and hiring. Having a mentor can be the difference between your new hire becoming tenured talent at your organization or leaving due to a lack of job satisfaction. Personalized Introductions and Team Building With existing team members having already established relationships and being accustomed to working together, joining a team can be intimidating at first for a new hire. Therefore, instead of simply informing the team that a new member will be joining, it's time to make introductions more personal. Ideally, your new hire’s mentor will already be a member of the team and can lend a hand in the transition period. But take things a step further. HR can have new hires provide fun information to be shared in an announcement. A memo to the team with fun facts about new hires such as experience, favorite foods, vacations, special talents, and hobbies can be shared with the company via the communications board. This will help members to start to make connections and have some interesting talking points from the get-go. Other great HR introduction programs could include new hire lunches, whether in-person or virtual, and happy hours. This helps new hires to ease into the work environment, meet colleagues, and just have some light-hearted conversations rather than diving into work-heavy related meetings. Celebrate Your New Hires Celebrating your new hires can make a big impact on their experience early on. Recognizing employees will give them the confidence and reassurance they need that they are performing well. New hires can get into their head by questioning if their work is meeting expectations or if the team is happy with their contributions. Therefore, letting your new hires know just how well they are doing can help to propel their career forward. Try having teams that can work in tandem with HR departments to create a set of guidelines for rewards and recognition. Different categories such as being a role model, meeting or exceeding production, or just for effort can be established. Managers can then use these guidelines to acknowledge new hires for achieving goals and for an overall job well done. Recognition can come in the form of team or department announcements or perks and awards. Whether it is reassurance through team praise or a gift card for a cup of coffee, even a small gesture goes a long way. Show You Care It is important for HR Teams to have regular retrospectives and reflect on current onboarding programs. An excellent way to do so is by leveraging new hire feedback. Invite new hires to take a survey to better understand if your onboarding experience is holding up. This can help you to see areas that are especially helpful or opportunities for improvement. Consider even having a survey just for the mentoring program. Soliciting feedback not only allows you to take a look at the health and success of your onboarding program, but also helps to demonstrate to new hires that you care about their input and experience. If you are looking to make not only a great first impression but a lasting impression, onboarding is key. Having a personalized, streamlined, and thorough onboarding experience can impress your employees and set the tone for workplace culture and help launch successful careers. About Author:This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is dedicated to providing powerful solutions for your HR teams and creating an exceptional employee experience. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, onboarding, and to save you valuable time! The LIKE.TG Award for Excellence in Employee Experience Participation is free and winners receive: A $25 Amazon Gift Card Feature on the LIKE.TG website and social media Digital badge + certificate to share on your website recruitment materials Apply Now
Five Creative Ways for Virtual Employee Engagement
Employee engagement has also been corporate jargon for most businesses. Every organization realizes the fact that high remote employee engagement drives greater success and higher profitability. Given that, entrepreneurs and HR professionals brainstorm in a consistent way to evolve new strategies for achieving high employee engagement. However, still, a larger part of the global workforce remains disengaged from work. In its Global Workplace Report, Gallup presumes that not more than 15 percent of workers are actively engaged in their work. Hence, there is a need to bring paradigm shifts to the existing strategies that are proving to be little effective. Not to forget, a large part of employees across the globe are working from home in the current era. The colossal rise in the culture of remote working brings new challenges for HR managers. No doubt, this style of working is a win-win situation for everyone. It has fascinating benefits to offer to both employees and employers. According to remote working trends from Forbes, 70 percent of the global workforce will be in remote working by 2025. Besides, a Gartner CFO survey suggests that two-thirds of employers may allow permanent work from home for their employees. Hence, in the coming years, there would be more hybrid offices and virtual meetings. Plus, there will be more virtual hiring which will see remote workers working from different time zones. However, engaging remote workers is going to be a greater challenge for organizations with the exponential rise in remote work. It would only be prudent to say that remote working is the way forward. It may have emerged as a safe and viable alternative in the pandemic, but now it holds the key to the future of the corporate realms. Despite the astonishing benefits of its inculcation, the trend of remote work does pose challenges for HR managers to manage remote engagement. However, these challenges can be kept under check with some outside-the-box strategies. Creativity is the most important skill in the world, after all. With creativity and rationality, all challenges can be made to concede defeat. In this meticulous blog, we glance at some fabulous ideas for active remote employee engagement. To learn even more about managing remote teams and keeping employees working at home highly engaged, download our ebook now. Download now Worthwhile ways to engage a virtual workforce 1. Give a bright start to everyone’s day HR managers and employers often organize engagement activities in the workplace. Now when offices have gone virtual, it is time to take these activities virtual too. The levels of employee engagement depend on how positive employees feel. To engage remote workers and to start their day on a bright note, HR managers can organize online yoga, aerobic, or Zumba classes. These can prove to be highly rewarding employee engagement activities. Much before office time, employees can be engaged with online fitness classes via video conferencing. To cite an example, if the login time for work is 10 am, online fitness classes can be held at 8 am every morning. After a small session having begun on an energetic note, employees can then take a small break before they begin their work. This can be one of the most productive ways to help employees maintain a work-life balance. Building such a coordinated morning routine for everyone will have multifarious merits. While it will give a fresh start to everyone’s day, it will also promote the idea of employee wellness. Mental and physical fitness are salient to employee engagement and their capability to perform with persistence. So, when they meet each other virtually in the morning and participate in fitness modules with zeal, it will keep their productivity and mood enhanced for the rest of their day. As per the findings of a recent survey by TELUS International, mental health is a prime concern for workers. More than 80 percent of workers will consider quitting their current positions for organizations that pay more heed to the mental wellness of employees. Employee wellness initiatives can help an organization create a vibrant, caring, and high-value company culture. Hence, by caring for their remote workers every day, companies can win their unconditional commitment. 2. Conduct virtual coffee breaks A lot can happen over a cup of coffee indeed! When working at the office, employees feel happy to have some light-hearted conversations over a cup of coffee. But working from home in a relentless manner can lead to massive stress. So, everyone deserves a little break, after all. Given that, HR managers can create a space for virtual coffee breaks amid the routines of remote workers. Everyone can break for coffee at the same time, see each other on the screen, and have refreshing discussions. While this will keep employee relationships flourishing, it will also act as a channel for stress-busting. These synchronized breaks will give remote workers a window to relax and will help employees feel delighted. They will replicate the feeling of face-to-face communication among employees. In fact, the scope for innovation around these coffee breaks is immense. Every day can be centered around a theme for discussions. Or one employee can play songs for other employees on a day when it is his turn to do so. These virtual team-building activities can be spiced up with as much creativity as possible. Employees can also endorse their talents in these little windows or introduce their pets to others. This for sure will have a positive impact on everyone’s enthusiasm and work dedication. Beginning afresh after a small and happy break is always a great idea! More ideas can be taken from some state-of-the-art employee engagement software. 3. Maintain transparency even in remote working Transparency shown by organizations is a key determinant of the engagement of their employees. It is one of the paramount determinants of the company culture of an organization. A Harvard Business Review study concludes that employees give their best when senior management has transparent communications with them. But around 50 percent of workers feel that their organizations exhibit a lack of transparency. Given that, it is crucial for organizations to be at least selectively transparent. The idea of transparency, however, seems even more unrealistic in remote work and virtual meetings. Having said that, HR managers need to identify the right channels for sharing information with remote workers. It can be done by sharing weekly email newsletters or holding virtual meetings like those held to discuss targets. Companies can share information with remote workers through conference calls, video calls, or other collaboration tools. Various strategies for the same can be brainstormed and refined. Otherwise, in the lack of transparency, workers will start to disengage from remote work. 4. Virtual mentorship programs for employees The prospects of career advancement, learning, and development form an integral part of an employee’s allegiance to an organization. Employees are happy to serve organizations that offer meaningful opportunities to learn and develop. The retention rate and engagement levels in such organizations are high. This is the reason why some of the most successful companies invest in mentorship programs for employees. Caterpillar, Fidelity Investments, Google, and General Electric are some of the ventures that offer excellent mentorship programs. In fact, General Electric has leveraged a reverse mentoring program. In this program, subordinates mentor their superiors, and this is where GE scores so well on retention and active engagement. The best part is, the vertical of online training and learning has risen parallel to remote working opportunities. So, curating online mentorship programs for employees will involve no hassle. Employees will love to learn new skills while working from home. Companies should offer free learning courses and mentoring programs to employees for higher engagement via collaboration tools. In the ultimate sense, it will lead to a more skilled workforce hence benefiting the company. It will be a smart investment that will serve multiple purposes for companies. For instance, companies can launch mentorship programs on sentiment analysis or social media analysis. Now that is something outside the box for sure! Programs on social media marketing and analysis can help companies dominate social media platforms. Needless to say, winning social media has now become indispensable for enterprises. 5. Virtual recognition Recognition for most employees is of paramount importance. It is the basic human tendency to feel more motivated while being on the receiving end of well-deserved recognition and appreciation. Employees feel great in a usual workplace when they receive recognition in front of their peers, and everyone lauds their efforts. Well, this can even be recreated in a remote working setup. HR managers need to find some intriguing ways to celebrate employees and their tenacious efforts in the virtual office. They can include recognition in the normal day-to-day virtual meetings, or a certificate of appreciation can be mailed personally to employees. There are innumerable ways of extending appreciation and recognition. To cite a small example, companies can reward the best performers with gift cards or shopping vouchers. Otherwise, the best way out is to ask employees. HR managers can ask employees during general meetings about the best ideas for recognition in a virtual workspace. HR can also make video calls to each employee and seek their suggestions. It is always better to learn from them how they want to be recognized for their valuable contributions. Sometimes, for the best levels of engagement, it is better to do things as they like. To encapsulate, albeit, with some hurdles, remote work has greater room for innovation. As long as HR managers choose to be creative, they can promote high engagement. The key lies in understanding the challenges remote workers face and addressing them. Besides, there should be knowledge of the basic anticipations that employees may have from the organization. These anticipations can be different when employees are working from home. Also, keeping in mind that remote working is the way forward, the strategies have to be long-term. The idea should be to evolve dynamic virtual team-building activities and strategies. The dynamics of employee engagement will keep changing with every new trend. This is why HR professionals should incorporate flexibility and creativity into their ability to manage people.
Five tips to kick digital workflows into high gear
Lessons from 500+ CIOs on how to make digitization work, betterHow can CIOs reshape the future of work? Based on in-depth interviews and a survey of 516 CIOs, we asked technology leaders to identify the top strategies for transforming their organizations through digital workflows. Most of their answers boiled down to the five tips below:1. Collaborate with C-Suite peers 2. Collaborate with external partners 3. Align digitization goals to business goals 4. Embed IT into the organization 5. Track results and adjust strategy accordingly Download the full research overview to learn more, and read about the transformations CIOs are achieving on WorkflowQuarterly.com.
Five Ways in Which Work Environment Affects Employee Productivity
Employee productivity in most cases is synonymous with employee engagement. When employees engage actively, they offer their best abilities to the organization. To substantiate, insights from the Workplace Research Foundation reveal an exciting take on the correlation between the two. They reveal that almost 40 percent of engaged workers prove to be immensely productive. HR managers must pay heed to the need to give employees an engaging work environment. The next fundamental prerequisite for employee productivity is the satisfaction and happiness of employees. As per Qualtrics, happy employees are five times more likely to stick to their organizations. All of these are attributes of the work environment that employees get in their respective companies. There are diverse ways in which the working environment drives productivity. In the absence of an ideal work environment, employees feel burdened, unheard, disengaged, and unhappy. Although remote working opportunities and verticals are witnessing a steep hike, curating the right work environment is imperative. HR managers have their tasks made more complex in terms of sustaining the productivity of remote employees. Again, giving them an encouraging, empathetic, and inspirational virtual working environment is what will work the best. Most of the determinants of high productivity and engagement we talk about are elements of the working environment. Together they create a favorable and conducive work environment to give their best and innovate to overcome insurmountable challenges. To elucidate this assertion further, this blog will illustrate the various ways in which the work environment impacts productivity. A Positive Work Environment Drives Positive Changes Positivity is a luxury in the contemporary world, for humans tend to be more impressed by negative thoughts. In such a scenario, if employers and HR managers can foster a culture of positivity in the workplace, it can do wonders to enhance individual productivity. This positivity may come in various virtues and realms, adding up to make an opportune company culture. These include empathy, gratitude, employee wellness, team building, cordial workplace interactions, and so on. Also, a positive work environment should not differentiate between genders and should ensure safety for all. In such a workplace, people will not have any other concerns than focusing on the quality of their work and organizational goals. To explain this better, we must pay attention to the findings of a report by Salesforce. It cites that if employees’ opinions are heard and valued, they are 4.6 times more likely to deliver performances to the best of their abilities. This validates that a positive, inclusive, and rewarding work environment inspires the best in employees. It drives positive changes in workers’ attitudes, and the overall impact is seen in the company culture’s overwhelming positivity. A Favorable Work Environment Leads to a Reduction in Absenteeism Employee absenteeism is a big hurdle in the flow of productivity of an individual, his team, and the organization as a whole. Yes, employees deserve their share of leaves and entitlements for genuine reasons. In genuine cases, the organization should not have any objections and rather be supportive. However, it may also be feasible that employees go absent from work frequently because of the work environment. Other causes of absenteeism may include workplace harassment, disengagement, employee burnout, and anxieties besides illness and personal reasons. Given that, HR managers must identify these stressors among employees and support them. When employees’ issues are addressed in an assuring way, they will not have to escape from work to avoid stress or fatigue. A survey by CareerBuilder states that more than 60% of workers are burned while working. There is every reason why this can contribute to increased absenteeism and decreasing productivity. So, if the working environment provides better stress management opportunities to workers, scenarios can be better. An Inspiring Work Environment Promotes Creativity and Innovation Employee productivity is a dynamic term, and to take it to new levels, employees should have creative and innovative visions. Also, their creative insights can make a progressive impact on the overall success of the organization. After all, thinking outside the box is needed the most to survive the great competitiveness of the modern age. However, it is hard to inspire creativity if employees are not free to express their opinions. If they do not feel a sense of belonging and feel their ideas are invaluable to their managers, they will lose the spark. On the other hand, in a working environment where employees are valued, empowered, and granted creative freedom, innovation will become a part of the company culture. As per LinkedIn Learning, creativity is the most critical skill in the world. Simultaneously, for this skill to have the right breathing space and contribute to productivity, the working environment needs to be inspiring. Besides, as Gallup reported, around 35% of employees get the chance to be creative only a few times a year. This is where they have to compromise with their natural productivity. The aura of the working environment should be such that employees feel a natural knack for investing creativity and innovation in every task they do. A Learning-Oriented Work Environment Facilitates Continuous Development A work environment where feedback is shared systematically and leaders support learning is ideal for high productivity. In such a work environment, employees get endless opportunities to recognize their shortcomings and areas of improvement. Based on the constructive feedback shared by their superiors, workers can streamline their professional development. They can learn something new every day with every task and hence augment their productivity. In fact, according to Hubspot, more than 60 percent of employees are receptive to feedback and would like to receive it more often. This is because they find feedback valuable to their learning, development, and growth. Hence, in a work environment that supports learning and growth opportunities, productivity will remain high. In addition to sharing feedback, leaders or managers should also be selfless and sensitive to various employees’ learning needs. They will create enough opportunities for workers to analyze their employee's performance and work on consistent improvement. On the other hand, if leaders are not supportive, it can restrict the productivity of employees. To explain, according to a survey from Glassdoor, more than 85 percent of workers anticipate support from their employers. In the absence of direction from superiors and an encouraging work environment, employees will witness a decline in their work efficiency. A Cordial Workplace Stimulates Cooperation Workplace relationships and cooperation between colleagues are essential for employee engagement. To a large extent, cordiality in employee relationships depends on the working atmosphere. If a working environment is stained with office politics and conflicts, it will impact individual productivity and efficiency. On the other hand, if a work environment is enriched with mutual respect and collaboration, it becomes beneficial for everyone. A lot of operations and projects in the corporate world are to be achieved in teams. In such situations, the efficiency of the outcome becomes dependent on the coordination between team members. For that, there should be healthy cooperation among colleagues and appreciation for each other’s abilities. This is, in fact, the reason why a lot of HR managers and employers pay heed to team-building activities. To conclude, as explained above, the work environment impacts employee productivity in ample ways. Employees feel empowered to raise the bar of their performance when they feel happy, safe, appreciated, and supported. Furthermore, the work environment or the workplace’s physical environment depends on how managers and employers define working conditions. It further depends on how individual behaviors add up to formulate a company’s working culture. As long as managers realize the need to invest in giving employees a worthwhile work environment, workers’ productivity and motivation will remain high. Try Workmates Interactive Demo Click through it yourself withinteractive demo. Try It Now About Author: This article is written by a marketing team member at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications & engagement, and rewards & recognition. Our user-friendly software increases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk.
Five Ways to Boost Morale in a Distributed Team
As we head into fall and the uncertainty of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it’s likely that your team is still working remotely. Employees may have even moved into different states to live with family members, or they may simply be working from the comfort of their own living room. Whatever the case may be, it can be difficult to get all employees on the same page when you’re suddenly faced with the challenges of managing a widely distributed workforce. Engaging all employees and making sure they’re highly motivated and as productive as possible is vital to your overall success. Distance should never be something that stops your company from achieving your most critical goals, pandemic or not. To help you stay on track, here are five, simple, straightforward, yet actionable ways you can boost morale (and productivity) in any distributed team. #1: Communicate! When you’re in an office and have a quick question, it is easy to lean over and quickly ask a neighbor or other team member for their insight. At least it used to be. Yet now, working from home makes that type of quick information exchange difficult, if not impossible. Most of the time, these types of questions don’t even require a formal meeting, email exchange, or even a phone call. At first glance, this may make it seem that, without the in-person connections, you could lose the valuable back-and-forth that employees need to remain productive. This doesn’t have to be the case at all, especially with the right employee experience (EX) software. For example, modern EX platforms now include powerful messaging apps that make natural communication fast, easy, and effective. These apps make it much easier to communicate quickly and consistently, and any employee can quickly create a group chat, or even a specific channel dedicated to a certain topic. Shirley GarciaAuditing and Operations Administrator of Medlinks Cost Containment, Inc. and Medlinks Staffing, LLC. “I can’t say this enough: Without LIKE.TG, we could not have communicated important project information or demonstrated that we could take on an increased workload. We now provide real-time workforce statistics and productivity reports that have helped us win more projects.” The benefit of these apps over email is clear: Email can be clunky and may lose the valuable, real-time insights if one employee is offline or just doesn’t answer in time. Additionally, email threads with multiple participants can quickly get off track or make it hard for employees to find the answers to a specific question. A simple chat (either one on one or with a group) eliminates all of these issues and provides the ideal way to share important information. #2. Schedule weekly team meetings Weekly team meetings are another indispensable part of working with a distributed team. In the past, in office-based environments, you probably held regular in-person meetings that kept everyone up-to-speed on the last updates related to projects, company details, or even employees’ personal development. Yet now, remote team members may lose this connection and could begin to feel isolated. It may be hard for them to hear company announcements, learn how they’re performing, or how they may be able to help with a specific project or task. Holding regularly scheduled team meetings, ideally as often once once a week, lets your employees know what’s happening, any COVID-19-related changes, and even how they’re doing. Tip: Not everyone has access to high speed internet or the right hardware, so be sure to take stock of everyone’s household amenities so you know whether anyone will have any roadblocks to completing work and attending meetings in the regular schedule. #3. Keep the team’s eye on the prize Another benefit of working in an office (and that can be difficult to replicate in remote-working models) is an overall sense of purpose. Whether employees are focused on hitting a quarterly revenue target, finishing a huge website relaunch, or just staying on top of their own goals, instilling a sense of community will help the entire team keep their eye on the prize. Knowing what they’re working toward, and how they are helping make a difference can be inspiring—and could give them the extra motivation they need while boosting team morale. Be sure to send out weekly or biweekly updates on the status of the larger project, so your team knows exactly where they stand and how they can keep improving the bigger picture. Here are a few more ways you can give your team a bird's-eye view: Develop or subscribe to a workflow dashboard that tracks your team’s progress in real time, showing when specific tasks are completed and how that affects the whole project. During your weekly meetings, be sure to bring up the state of recent projects, and let team members know what they can do to help keep workflow efficient and optimal. Make a work-wide calendar that shows general due dates and deadlines that must be met in order for your project to roll out on time. This can help visual learners stay on top of their personal priorities, #4. Reward hard workers Once you’ve got a project rolling and your team onboard, it’s time to assess everyone’s personal progress. Back at the office, you may have had an employee of the month award, or you may have given bonuses to workers who completed their work above and beyond expectations. It may not feel as important when you’re working remotely, but you should definitely keep these traditions going — or start them, if you didn’t have them before. Team members want to know that they will be rewarded for successfully taking on projects and showing leadership qualities. This will give them the morale they need to increase quality and output, too; it’s basically a win-win. If it’s in the budget, offer prizes or bonuses to employees who really stand out. #5: Don’t forget the fun stuff Finally, don’t forget to have fun with your team. Work isn’t always just about work — sometimes, letting off a little steam through a bonding event can be exactly what your team needs to feel more confident in themselves and in the company as a whole. Bonding while remote can seem like a challenge, but there are great options: Video chat bar trivia or poll to unleash everyone’s inner nerd Online multiplayer party games (paired with a video chat) The simple, classic video chat happy hour A watch party where everyone can tune in to see a streaming movie Really, the options are endless once you get creative. Empower remote teams Don’t let morale sink just because everyone is working from home. With the right strategies, innovative techniques, and fun bonding events, you can boost your team’s spirits and get everyone in the right mindset to complete their work happily and efficiently. The perfect platform for managing a remote workforce For even more information on employee communication, collaboration, and engagement, we invite you to learn more about our Workmates employee experience platform. Sign up for a free, no-obligation demo to see how Workmates is changing employee management, in the new normal and beyond. To learn more about giving access to vital HR and work information — even when they're not in the office. Download our ebook now. Download now About Author: Samantha Rupp holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and is the managing editor for 365businesstips.com. She lives in San Diego, California and enjoys spending time on the beach, reading up on current industry trends, and traveling.
Focusing on Empathy to Engage Employees
On a global scale, we have all had to endure our fair share of economic turbulence. From pandemics to lockdowns–businesses have had to adapt themselves to fit new territories. The idea of well-being is being championed as a vital element in the workplace. More businesses are incorporating an awareness of emotional intelligence; and in particular, empathy. Empathy in the workplace allows employees to really feel valued and secure. Requests are heard and changes are implemented–with their welfare kept at the forefront. When employees care for it benefits everyone. Businesses witness an increase in staff engagement, productivity, and motivation. And when the workforce is happy, the business can prosper further. A happy workforce will lead to an increase in engagement, productivity, and motivation – allowing the business to prosper further. Let us look at what empathy is, why it’s important, and how you can use it to engage your employees in the workplace. What is empathy? Empathy is the ability to recognize emotions within other people. It is about seeing things from their perspective or points of view. It is kind of like a healing plaster or a band-aid. If it is used properly, you can really help support people through tricky situations. For many of us, seeing other people go through tough times or tough hardship can be unimaginable (and even incomprehensible). It is like a personified example of, ‘walking in their shoes’. Empathy then becomes a universal way of introducing a duty to provide support and relief. Are there different types of empathy? Within the world of psychology, empathy is seen as an extraordinary talent to possess–especially in the corporate world. According to American psychologist Daniel Goleman, empathy is one of five key components relating to emotional intelligence. Empathy can be divided into three major sections: cognitive, emotional, and compassionate. Cognitive empathy This is the ability to acknowledge someone’s emotions and mindset. But you do not necessarily need to have an emotional connection with them. Managers can tremendously benefit from cognitive empathy. It’s especially useful in situations like dealing with customers. They are able to build strong rapports, which is vital for engagement and assistance. However, cognitive empathy does have its downsides. It’s classed as being rational or emotionally neutral. Which means people can utilize it to manipulate others or situations. Emotional empathy This form relates to synchronizing with an individual’s emotions–but on a much deeper note. The empathizer becomes affected by the individual’s circumstances. And this allows them to understand situations on a much deeper and more genuine note. Be warned–you should always be cautious with this form of empathy. When you become invested on this level, you can easily become consumed by emotions. And if this tips over to feelings of overwhelm, you could easily end up damaging your own wellbeing. Compassionate empathy This form involves showing concern to others, whilst practically solving the problem. Compassionate empathy is seen as the most proactive of all three divisions. You will initially learn to understand a person’s grief. It leads on to providing them with a ‘safe space’ to acknowledge their emotions. With this form, it’s important to allow a reasonable amount of time for recovery. The importance of having empathy in the workplace Some employers might brush off the importance of empathy and emotional intelligence. They might think, “empathy takes too much effort… why do I have to care?” Empathy is a such a powerful instrument to keep on your belt. It benefits both your employees and the business. Of course, taking care of one’s physical aspect is important, like health and safety. But tending to psychological and emotional wellbeing is just as vital. It is almost at the core of mindfulness in the workplace. Overall, an equal balance of physical and mental wellbeing will ultimately protect your staff. And it is this that will grow employee engagement, an increase in morale and, business success. How to use empathy to engage employees There are so many empathetic methods that are used to engage employees. It is all about having emotional intelligence with them. After you have conquered this, you can sit back and watch it grow into healthy engagement and motivation in the workplace. Here are steps for using empathy to engage your employees at work: Champion teamwork As an employer, it is so important to champion strong teamwork within your workplace. And believe it or not, empathy allows this. When your workforce is united in solidarity, communication is clearer and constant. That is why should show empathy through teamwork, as it’s beneficial for all aspects of your business. From smaller teams to departmental tiers–whether it is one task or an ongoing project, your workers will prosper when they work cohesively. Empathy also allows people to feel cared for; and it is this that will grow business productivity. Share gratitude Employees are motivated and engaged by several things during work. And equally, can be become disengaged through negative treatment too. That is why it is crucial to share gratitude with your employees. Every employee–from the bottom to the top–should feel like a valued member of the business. It might seem like an obvious statement–but a business is nothing without its people. So, sharing a little gratitude towards them will help establish a healthy and happy workplace. Tailoring it back to empathy, they both go hand in hand. Gratitude allows you to navigate and apply empathy to your work cultures and practices. From making someone a ‘cup of joe’ to providing mental health wellbeing facilities–gratitude and empathy will always be beneficial for all parties. And it will transition into loyalty, engagement, and perseverance. Listen more One of the most integral skills anyone can possess, is the ability to listen. It cannot be a coincidence that humans have one mouth and two ears! Having good listening skills is a key element to success, in both personal and professional life. We can all work on being better listeners instead of talkers. And nowhere is this more relevant than in the workplace. One of the most effective ways to better our listening skills is by making slight changes. Have patience when talking to someone and really engage with what they are saying. Take extra caution not to jump in or cut them off. You can even introduce a scheme where employees can express their concerns or queries. This is easily accomplished through things like suggestion boxes or feedback forms. Take extra care to answer all comments and process them appropriately. Empathy thrives more when you put others first As humans, we are biologically wired to put ourselves first. We cannot fight it–it comes from an inherent drive for security, endurance, and sometimes even greed. However, this frame of mind derives from hostile environments which our ancestors faced. Like deprivation, famine, and war. It is arguable that sometimes our workplaces can feel like a ‘war-zone.’ But these extremities are not necessarily needed in our everyday professional lives. We should take a larger step toward being more selfless and empathic. Having emotional intelligence and empathetic qualities is the key to motivation, engagement, and innovation. Of course, this doesn’t mean we should ignore the importance of self-compassion. We must protect our personal well-being. But showing empathy does not mean we undervalue ourselves. Use empathy to tackle unfavorable or challenging situations. You will soon recognize the significance it brings to your healing and growing process. About Author: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is dedicated to providing powerful solutions for your HR teams and creating an exceptional employee experience. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, onboarding, and to save you valuable time!
For the 6th year in a row, Gartner names LIKE.TG an ITSM Magic Quadrant Leader
We’re delighted to be named as a Leader once again in the ITSM Gartner Magic Quadrant. That’s six consecutive years that we believe, Gartner and our customers have validated our efforts and success in transforming the employee experience with LIKE.TG® IT Service Management (ITSM).Gartner’s recognition only adds to our energy, excitement, and commitment as we continue to bring more innovations to our customers via the Now Platform®, which is the foundation for all our solutions. Let’s walk through some of these new developments.Mobile appsLIKE.TG is ushering in the next-generation enterprise where mobile apps get work done with simple swipes and taps. And we are inspired by our customers whose creativity and innovations on the Now Platform blaze the trail in unlocking the power of the digital enterprise.Intelligent workspacesMachine learning built into the Now Platform drives incredible efficiencies and automation. Intelligent workspaces unleash new levels of technician productivity. We pack powerful capabilities into the Now Platform and abstract away the complexity, so that IT and business leaders can easily deliver the employee experiences they envision. This enables customers to boost operational efficiency with digital workflows, empower new levels of employee self-service, and accelerate business growth on the Now Platform.The demands of the workforce are changingBusiness leaders need to understand the big picture. The workforce is changing rapidly as are the demands of the employees who expect tasks at work to be as simple as ordering on Amazon, getting an Uber ride, or reserving a table for dinner with a couple of clicks on a smart phone.Next-generation mobile capabilitiesSmart business leaders get this, and they know that ITSM is at the forefront of delivering that transformation. This is why LIKE.TG is bringing next-gen mobile capabilities to the enterprise. With our mobile solution, employees can simplify everyday moments such as asking questions and getting help from across departments with simple taps and swipes.There’s even a mobile app for onboarding new employees. Upon acceptance of the offer letter, a new hire uses the app to complete the tasks needed before the start date so they can be productive from day one.Using voice commands with mobile appThe Virtual Agent feature built into the Now Platform understands natural human language so employees can effortlessly get to resolution without the need for human agent involvement.For example, an employee saying, “I cannot connect to the VPN” or “How do I reset my password?” prompts Virtual Agent to provide the step-by-step troubleshooting required for resolution. The integrations with Siri and Google Voice allow employees to simply use voice commands to interact with the LIKE.TG mobile application. As a result, customers are reporting greater levels of incident deflection and employee satisfaction.Great work experiences require an efficient IT organizationDelightful employee experiences are possible when the service desk has simple and effective ways to drive that experience. New agent workspaces from LIKE.TG are boosting service desk productivity by bringing together in one place all the information IT staff members need to do their jobs.Built-in machine learning accelerates issue resolution by not only automatically assigning incoming issues, but also automatically proposing solutions to agents. From proactively flagging major incidents to proposing solutions based on similar issues solved in the past, machine learning is freeing up staff to focus on more strategic, career-enriching activities.In the same vein, Vendor Manager Workspace gives vendor managers a single destination to see all vendor information including profile, performance, and service satisfaction.Pushing the boundariesLIKE.TG continues to push the boundaries of what is known and accepted by bringing to the market top notch service experiences and cross-departmental digital workflows on the powerful Now Platform. The IT Staff—the enabler of those experiences—is finding itself at new levels of efficiency and job satisfaction.As IT leaders around the world use LIKE.TG ITSM to catalyze their digitalization and cultural transformation, we are excited to see the impact and inspiration with which these leaders are generating business growth and value. We believe that our focus on customer needs and customer success is what has helped us be named a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader for six consecutive years. It’s ingrained in LIKE.TG culture and it inspires us to make the world of work, work better for people. Gartner, Magic Quadrant for IT Service Management Tools, 29 August 2019, Rich Doheny, Chris Matchett, Siddharth Shetty.Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from ServiceNow.
For the 7th year in a row, LIKE.TG is named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Service Management Tools
Wow! LIKE.TG has been named an ITSM Tools Magic Quadrant Leader and placed furthest in completeness of Vision and highest in Ability to Execute in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant report. We are humbled by the recognition and gratified by the success that our customers are reporting.You may wonder whether, after being named a Magic Quadrant Leader for 7 consecutive years, if the thrill fades. To the contrary, our determination to innovate for our customers has never been greater. We believe, The Gartner accolade is a testament to our “hungry and humble” work ethic–hungry to do right by our customers and execute relentlessly to meet their needs, and humble in learning what’s working and what’s not, so we can make the right investments on behalf of our customers.A clear purposeWhen Fred Luddy launched LIKE.TG in 2004, his basic premise was to “enable people to route work effectively through the enterprise.” That rings true today more than ever.Though 2020 brought enormous, unforeseen challenges, LIKE.TG used them as motivation to deliver the workflows and applications our customers needed for emergency response and a safe return to the workplace. The company and those that make it run rose to the occasion.[Read the report: 2020 ITSM Gartner Magic Quadrant]The platform of platformsThese unusual times have clearly created a great need for digital experiences. Nine out of 10 CEOs worldwide want to support digital transformation, but only 4 in 10 say they’re prepared for it. LIKE.TG is helping close that gap with the powerful and flexible Now Platform®.LIKE.TG® ITSM, with its single, unified data model and built-in machine learning capabilities, integrates seamlessly with existing enterprise solutions to keep businesses functioning smoothly and deliver stellar digital experiences and increased productivity.For example, the LIKE.TG Virtual Agent, available to employees 24-7, understands natural language, providing answers to employees quickly in the era of remote working.As machine learning is built into the LIKE.TG platform, IT has the power to increase automation: Incoming incidents are automatically assigned, IT support staff get instant resolution recommendations, based on similar incidents resolved in the past, and any potential major incidents are intelligently identified and resolved before they negatively impact the business. To avoid frustrating UI slowdowns, our Agent Workspace enables IT support staff to concurrently resolve multiple issues rapidly while also receiving AI-assisted resolution recommendations right within the interface.Building future-proof ITSMI believe Gartner has recognized LIKE.TG as a Leader not just because we listen to customer feedback but because we also anticipate their needs. We invested heavily to build a resilient IT Service Management solution to foster business growth.For instance, LIKE.TG’s Walk-Up experience, built to enable swift face-to-face support, is now fitted with an extension that supports effective remote incident management. It enables contactless, depot-style walk-up centers through scheduled pick-ups and adaptive work assignment rules.With an increasingly remote workforce, IT staff must meet employees on the channels they are on – Slack, Microsoft Teams, or others. LIKE.TG also integrates with Amazon Connect to provide that seamless voice and chat capabilities so employees can get back to work with minimal downtime. LIKE.TG self-service has been able to deflect up to 80% of incidents or requests, allowing the IT staff to focus on more strategic issues.Boosting growth but containing costsIT and business leaders know that now is the time to raise productivity, reduce expenditures, and prepare for a more resilient future. Independent research shows that organizations that switched to LIKE.TG saved a total of $8.9 million because of improved IT and employee productivity. A reduction in overall IT maintenance and development costs saved another $6 million.Behind every great experience… is a great workflow. We are always grateful to our customers, and in service of their business goals. We are confident. This latest recognition from Gartner is a validation of our strategy, execution, and innovation for our customers.
For the people: Improving government CX
Government continues to trail private industry in its ability to meet customer service expectations. The American Customer Satisfaction Index Federal Government Report 2022 scored government service at 66.3 out of 100, below the average customer satisfaction index of 73.2.1 It’s not all bad news, though.Thanks to customer experience (CX) being a focus of the Biden-Harris Management Agenda, this year marked the first uptick in customer satisfaction since 2017. With more than $500 million in the White House fiscal 2024 budget proposal earmarked to support the improvement of government CX, the hope is for a continued upward trend.To realize this hope, and the promise of a government that works for all its people, agencies need to be strategic in how they invest in improving the CX journey to benefit both citizens and their workforce.
Forrester named LIKE.TG a Leader in Strategic Portfolio Management
I’m excited to announce that LIKE.TG has been named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Strategic Portfolio Management Tools, Q2 2024. We believe this recognition validates our industry position and continued investment in a comprehensive planning solution with AI capabilities to better align strategy and business value.Differentiating with AIThe rapid adoption of AI technology has created a clear change in the way enterprises operate and how work gets done. We believe LIKE.TG is taking the lead in this emerging area. The Forrester Wave™ report states, “LIKE.TG capitalizes on its AI capabilities to enhance core capabilities and optimize planning.”Customers can take advantage of newly introduced AI and intelligent automation functionality with Now Assist for Strategic Portfolio Management. They can use the AI-powered virtual agent in demand management or to automate laborious tasks, such as product feedback analysis.In today's ever-changing AI world, it’s crucial to have the ability to make optimal, timely decisions. LIKE.TG® Strategic Portfolio Management provides the tools to make informed decisions, allocate resources effectively, and reach organizational goals fast.Improving visibility and processesIn LIKE.TG's vendor profile, the Forrester Wave™ report states, “LIKE.TG’s vision ambitiously focuses on connecting strategy, planning, and delivery in a user-friendly environment that enables organizations to execute strategies.”Leaders can help ensure strategic alignment by managing funds, simulating investment scenarios, and using real-time analytics to anticipate trends, prioritize resources, and continuously improve outcomes.With all work aligned to enterprise goals, this centralized approach fosters synergy among knowledge workers, enhancing organizational agility and competitiveness in today's dynamic business environment.We believe the added integration of LIKE.TG Collaborative Work Management offers multifaceted benefits. It empowers teams with an all-encompassing hub for planning, visualization, and collaboration while efficiently managing business demands and resources.With seamless access to tools for capturing, assessing, and managing tasks, teams can streamline workflows, enhance communication, and boost productivity.Managing application estate effectivelyEffective digital transformation requires a laser focus on modernizing the application estate. Organizations need application portfolios that support business strategy more effectively, with reduced levels of cost and risk.The Forrester report notes about LIKE.TG, “Application portfolio management (APM) is a particular strength...”APM done well can help organizations achieve business goals with complete visibility across their application landscape. Addressing the various inventory, capability mapping, and tracking needs of our customers is critical to business delivery, and we’re proud to offer the products to support them.Delivering business outcomesBy prioritizing, planning, managing, and scaling agile portfolios and investments, organizations can expedite the delivery of innovative products and services.The Forrester report notes, “LIKE.TG doubled down on its investment in SPM, and the results show.”LIKE.TG’s approach offers alignment with organizational strategies, helping to ensure desired business results through real-time goal tracking. We know that enabling teams to manage work using any methodology also accelerates value delivery across the enterprise, fostering adaptability and innovation.Download the full, complimentary Forrester report.
Forrester report: LIKE.TG debuts as a Strong Performer in RPA
I’m incredibly thrilled to share that, in our very first year of entry, LIKE.TG has been named a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: Robotic Process Automation, Q1 2023. We believe this validates the impact of our product vision and current capabilities in this market. More importantly, we think it’s proof that our customers are reaching their business goals.Automation: A competitive advantageIn the current economic environment, organizations are investing more in operational efficiency and enhanced experiences for their customers and employees. The need to accelerate automation across the enterprise has created more demand for technologies such as robotic process automation (RPA) to streamline manual work and improve the bottom line as well as the employee experience.The RPA market continues to evolve at a rapid pace. We're proud to be a next-generation RPA provider that sees this important capability as part of a broader platform that orchestrates automation tools to work together seamlessly to unify a customer’s hyperautomation landscape. Seamless orchestrationForrester evaluated LIKE.TG Automation Engine and solutions from other top providers across three categories: current offering, strategy, and market presence. The 26 criteria included data integration capabilities, low-code/no-code capabilities, and vision. The report also incorporated feedback from customer interviews.In our opinion, our approach to innovation in this space, with a special focus on unifying the hyperautomation landscape for more seamless orchestration, has received recognition from analyst firms and customers alike. Our in-platform integration and automation solution helps organizations quickly connect or automate any system, document, or task with minimal code.Since the Now Platform San Diego release, we’ve seen rapid adoption of Automation Engine to drive digital transformation initiatives across multiple industries, such as financial services, technology, and retail. At the heart of our hyperautomation strategy is people and their experiences: Automating tasks and processes through a single lens Applying document intelligence with AI Optimizing existing processes with recommendations Discovering new automation opportunities The Now Platform offers all of these in one experience, including visibility into the enterprise’s often-siloed automation vendor landscape.To be recognized by a respected analyst firm such as Forrester is both gratifying and incredibly humbling. I have our team and our customers’ trust to thank. You can continue to count on our innovation, and we’ll keep watching what you build with excitement and awe.Find out more about why LIKE.TG was named a Strong Performer in RPA in the complimentary Forrester Wave™ report.
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