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Get to know the Knowledge 2021 Digital Experience platform
At LIKE.TG, we’re gearing up for Knowledge 2021, which will feature more than 500 digital sessions across 12 channels. With that many to choose from, how do you narrow down the choices to get the most out of your Knowledge experience? You’ll want to be familiar with three new areas in the Knowledge 2021 Digital Experience platform this year.Guide: Scheduled contentSimilar to a television lineup listing, the Guide provides details about all our scheduled content. This is the place to start building your plan of attack. Choose the live sessions you want to attend, add them to your calendar, and build the rest of your Knowledge schedule from there.The Guide is laid out by channel, date, and time. Click any title to learn more about a session and determine if it’s one you want to attend. You can add the session to your list from the description page or from the Guide itself by clicking the heart icon for that session.Only interested in a particular channel? Click that channel in the Guide to be taken to a page featuring all sessions devoted to that channel.Library: On-demand contentOnce you’ve selected the live sessions you don’t want to miss, visit the Library. This is the full list of all content available at Knowledge—both live and on demand. Here, you can sift through all the on-demand content to select the sessions you want to work around your other sessions and watch at your leisure. Organized alphabetically by default, the Library offers filters to simplify your search. You can explore sessions by: Track Solution Industry Role Session level Beginner Intermediate Advanced Session category Demo Keynote Session Training Connect Pass: Upgraded contentThe Connect Pass area of the Knowledge 2021 platform is an upgrade to the free experience. For $299, you gain access to more than 200 additional live experiences, labs, roundtables, demos, meetups, the Genius Lounge, and meet-the-speaker events.This is worth considering if you want to attend the Think Big leadership sessions, have more interaction with other attendees, and see live demonstrations from LIKE.TG technical experts. It also grants you access to live Zoom webinars featuring inspirational speakers, such as former professional soccer player Gary Neville, chefs Nyesha Arrington and Marcus Samuelsson, and professional rock climber Alex Honnold.Can't-miss opportunitiesWhatever you do, don’t miss the corporate keynote session, “Workflow your world,” at 9 am PDT on May 11, featuring CEO Bill McDermott and other LIKE.TG leaders. They’ll take us on a journey of exploration into the possibilities of workflow.In addition, each channel has a keynote that will also be live on May 11.To make the most of the Knowledge 2021 experience, you’ll want to participate in the scheduled sessions whenever possible, so you can watch them simultaneously with others and chat live with fellow attendees.And who knows? You could end up building a valuable relationship with someone on the other side of the continent—or planet. Participate in those conversations by visiting the Knowledge Community page. You’ll need to enter some personal information before you can interact with others.We can’t wait to see you at Knowledge 2021. Not registered yet? Register today. And join the fun on Twitter at @Know365 and at #Know21.LIKE.TG, the LIKE.TG logo, Now, and other LIKE.TG marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of LIKE.TG, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other company names, product names, and logos may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
Getting ahead of global regulations
In today’s world, the fitness of compliance and risk professionals is being tested like never before. Like the surfers who founded LIKE.TG, we must find ways to get ahead of each new wave of federal and global regulations and ride as gracefully as we can—or wipe out. The key is to be proactive rather than reactive.No matter the regulation or resources at one’s disposal, the basic principles of establishing a strong compliance practice cannot be ignored.Think globallyIn the summer of 2022, the European Union (EU) updated its whistleblower requirements and policies. As a result, global companies like LIKE.TG must handle issues raised by EU employees differently than those raised in the U.S.From the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to the upcoming EU Data Act to the recent U.S. Department of Justice guidance on corporate compliance programs, regulations affect all global companies and their customers.At LIKE.TG, we must continually assess local, regional, and global impacts of legislation. Otherwise, we’ll be out of compliance when a new regulation rolls out.Coordinate cross-enterprise effortsNo single team can ensure compliance and control for risk on its own. Capabilities must be tapped and harmonized across the organization.At LIKE.TG, we’re fortunate to have legal, government relations, and regulated markets teams that track rules and regulations, talk to customers, and monitor upcoming waves. These teams gather and share information so that we can make quick adjustments on the fly. We work together to ensure we have the systems and workflows in place to maintain continuous compliance.Take a risk-based approachRisk appetite must be balanced with risk tolerance. Businesses should take risks that could have positive impacts and mitigate risks that could have negative repercussions.At LIKE.TG, our policies and procedures are designed to prevent violations of regulations. Where gray areas exist, we have room to innovate, as we work to define what a 21st-century compliance culture should look like.Technology drives efficiencyIn today’s working world, which extends beyond office buildings, it can be difficult to pick up cues or sense red flags. We miss out on spontaneous conversations and casual exchanges of information. In lieu of this, we must rely on data. Our teams use the LIKE.TG integrated risk management (IRM) regulatory compliance framework to help us manage changing regulations, strategize compliance policies, and identify addressable gaps. IRM is critical in helping us focus our efforts. It spares us from duplicating work and brings crucial information to everyone who needs it.We use other Now Platform capabilities and the LIKE.TG C-suite dashboards to instantly get a sense of what’s happening across the company. We can see metrics in real time, sales by location, high-risk partners and their locations, complaints and their origins, and much more. LIKE.TG solutions let us be in rooms we’re not physically in and provide access to pertinent information.Technology also gives us a leg up on data governance, a practice area that all industries are prioritizing and elevating. Because all our data resides on a single platform, we know how to find it. It’s at our fingertips, on demand. No waves, no gloryLike the sea, global regulations are ever changing. Being a good surfer is about pairing solid technique with state-of-the-art technology that supports speed and efficiency.We can’t always know the exact character or magnitude of the next wave, or if it will throw us underwater. But we do our best to ride with grace by getting ahead of each wave—and we’re nothing but stoked about it.Find out more about how LIKE.TG helps organizations get ahead of global regulations.
Getting smart at being smarter
Global access to data is exploding. At the same time, our ability to categorise, classify and analyse this data is also expanding.As this new world of data unfolds, LIKE.TG is there to enable businesses to create new data models and their supporting data analytics functions to directly and positively impact growth, profit and expansion.But let’s go back to first principles for a moment. We know that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) – when correctly applied – can improve the way organisations work and operate… but do organisations know where to start as they look to create these new data models?We – and by ‘we’ I mean you as the customers, us at LIKE.TG, as well as our partners, everybody basically – need to ask where to categorise and compartmentalise processes and functions to build new digital workflows.We need to examine which aspects of the business should be most directly ‘exposed’ to AI. We also need to know what is and isn’t possible in the short, medium and long term.In other words, we need to get smart about being smarter if we’re going to bring a new era of business forward.So what does smart really mean in modern business terms? I think it is time to look at AI and digital workflows through the lens of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) objectives.SpecificityWhen we use the word ‘specific’ and demand a greater level of product or service specificity, we mean it in the most granular sense possible.We can’t just say we need more paperclips, more salespeople, more office air conditioning or more field sales automobiles. We need to ask what kind of paperclip shape we need, what colour, what build strength and perhaps even what level of ‘clippyness’ every clip needs to exhibit.When you are thinking about delivering AI and ML in the business you have to be really focused on what you are trying to achieve — and by that I mean you need to be able to tie down specific use cases for each and every paperclip.MeasurabilityGetting smart with new digital workflows also requires measurability. If you can’t measure it and put it in your business plan and balance sheet (a process, a service, a workflow element, anything at all) then you need to step back and ask whether you should you really be doing it.The reality is that data is often captured and not ever used. It simply falls unmeasured and unloved into the data lake. The real cost of this is the ‘noise’ that is created throughout the business because a) wasted data goes crashing into the lake and then b) the splashing that occurs afterwards when users do actually realise that they have to start diving into the lake to look for the data that they might actually need in order to make work experiences better.Attainability and relevancyIf an AI initiative is not attainable or achievable, then why has it formed a part of your current business strategy in the first place? Nowadays we can forecast how far AI will realistically be able to change any given business in real practical terms.Similarly, if an AI business initiative is not relevant to the business and not able to exist within the context of the organisation’s current and immediate goals, then it forms no sensible part of any smart business plan.TimelinessLastly, we come to timeliness. In the not so distant past, business cycles and the general approach to commercial objectives were typically annual. In this post-millennial age, firms are measuring themselves in much smaller strategic increments.Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and business targets used to change year-on-year. Today, they might be calibrated to change monthly, weekly or perhaps even on the basis of individual (tickets) activities relating to individual jobs. Your next stepsOur goal at LIKE.TG is to get to a point where every part of every business should be able to use smart digital workflows to drive greater productivity, greater quality of all services and greater experiences for all employees.We know that an increasing proportion of organisations is already examining where they can bring AI to bear and create new value in their business. We also know that many are already on that road and creating new applications and new experiences.Factors that matter most now include service quality, cost reduction, speedy delivery and the need for geographical availability for all new products and services. These are all the defining trends that should be shaping the way we develop new digital workflows that leverage AI and ML.What we are doing at LIKE.TG is helping identify areas for improvement not just before they start to lose profits and market share but more significantly, before they start to actually lose contracts. There’s a new culture for predictive business strategy that we are underpinning and making possible.Smart is smarter if it is more productive and creating greater experiences for everybody inside and outside your organisation. It’s where the smart money is, believe me.
Getting to know IT asset management
It’s funny how once you are officially in a department such as IT, everyone assumes you have deep knowledge about everything from resetting a printer to spooling up a complex cloud dev instance. And as time goes by, it gets harder and harder to admit unfamiliarity about certain areas of techdom.Take IT asset management (ITAM), for example. Yes, we all know what software is. We know what a laptop or desktop computer is. But what does it take to successfully control the usage and investment in what can be a significant cost for an enterprise?The basics: What makes ITAM run successfully.This is the management of all IT assets include computing, networking, and related equipment, as well as software licenses, entitlements, and subscriptions. In too many organizations, IT assets are quite numerous, widely distributed, and often not fully inventoried or documented. And therein lies the problem.Download Now: The Gorilla Guide to Getting Started with ITAMWhat are the common asset management mistakes and challenges?In an adjective: reactionary. Because of widespread distribution, unclear assignments of responsibility, and point tools isolated from the rest of IT, organizations tend to manage their IT assets as a reaction to some event or discovery, often unplanned and perhaps even unexpected. This has obvious risks. For example, what if you get a demand from the software vendor to prove you have licenses for every user on every machine? Failure to do so could result in license compliance true ups and even legal action. Here’s a look at the most common pitfalls not having a strong ITAM strategy or tool:Problem 1: So much wasted money.This might mean paying for software or subscriptions no longer in use or for more licenses or subscription seats than are necessary. This adds up fast. Gartner estimates $152 billion in wasted software costs and $33 billion in wasted Software as a Service usage fees. How much is your company adding to those numbers every year?1 Gartner Newsroom Oct 10, 20202 Garner Newsroom July 23, 2020Problem 2: So much silly risk.The other side of overspending is failure to purchase or acquire licenses or subscriptions needed to legally make use of specific software or services. This seemingly innocuous activity can lead to financial penalties.Problem 3: So much unnecessary work.If an audit happens, IT, finance, and other staff get drawn away from their usual work and responsibilities causing overall productivity to suffer.Those are the risks. Now keep learning about how ITAM comes to the rescue.We invite you to explore a nifty Gorilla Guide created to give the whole inside story on modern ITAM. It offers a concise discussion with topics including: The ITAM Savings Equation Avoiding Unnecessary Expense How a Single Platform Simplifies ITAM Benefits of Lifecycle Management Piloting the Process Measuring (and Sharing) Success Introducing IT Asset Management (SAM) in an Organization Reconciling the Data Optimizing Platform Synergies and Capabilities Get “The Gorilla Guide to Getting Started with ITAM.” And be ready for any asset management question that comes your way.
Giving at Now: Creating positive summer experiences for kids with cancer
My wife, Kayla, was only seven years old when she lost her sister to cancer. As a way to honor her sister’s memory, she attended a special camp every summer growing up, called Camp Sunshine Dreams.The annual, week-long camp—nestled along the shore of Huntington Lake, northeast of Fresno, Calif.—provides a place for kids with cancer and their siblings to just be kids while they are dealing with the very difficult experiences and circumstances of pediatric cancer. After Kayla aged out of being a camper, she returned as a teenager for several years to work as a camp counselor.Last summer, Kayla wanted to return to camp as a volunteer, and asked if I’d be interested in joining her. I jumped at the opportunity—especially to spend time at a place that I knew meant so much to her.For the week, I worked as a counselor for a group of seven junior-high students—a mix of kids either going through treatment or who had recently finished treatment—and their siblings. We did all kinds of classic camp stuff - we sang songs, went canoeing on the lake, and a big dance toward the end of the week where everyone dressed up for this year’s theme, “Wonderland.”The camp really provides a healing space for every camper. One of my favorite memories from the week was something they call the “spirit stick.” All the kids spread out across the campground to sit in small circles and talk about their experience with cancer. The kid holding the spirit stick gets to talk while the others listen. The one sharing their story also gets to shave down the stick and puts the shavings into a handkerchief. After everyone has had a chance to talk, each group takes the shavings and throws them in a fire where everyone is gathered. It’s a cathartic, tangible way for the kids to process what they’re going through. There’s another bonfire during camp, one where anyone can have a moment of remembrance for someone they’ve lost. Kayla took the opportunity to have a moment for her sister. She doesn’t usually talk about that time from her life, but the incredible community at the camp gives her a supportive place to open up. It was comforting for me to see firsthand that she has this amazing group of people who will always be like family for her.I am so grateful I could help contribute to a memorable experience for a group of awesome kids. And it was really helpful to have such a supportive team here at LIKE.TG that encouraged me to take the time off to be at the camp with Kayla. It’s nice that it’s so easy here to give back.I also feel supported in the office to talk about these things with my team, too, which makes us feel even more close-knit. It’s reinforced for me that at LIKE.TG we can be open about what’s going on in our lives and how we spend time outside of work. And it gave me an experience I’ll never forget. Kayla and I are already planning a return visit to Camp Sunshine Dreams next summer. I’ll keep going back as long as they can use my help.Explore careers at ServiceNow. Find your tribe.
Giving At Now: How a long-distance connection keeps on giving
When I joined LIKE.TG last year as a knowledge management specialist in Hyderabad, it came with an interesting arrangement: My manager, Lynda King, works 8,300 miles away as a remote employee in Nebraska.But this long-distance work relationship has turned into a very personal connection, thanks to a nonprofit organization I discovered through Lynda. It’s also strengthened the bonds I have with colleagues, who care deeply about supporting great causes.Soon after I started, Lynda mentioned an India-based charity she has supported for a long time called Maher. For over 20 years, Maher has been supporting destitute women, men and children across India—providing food, water and clothes and other services to help people become healthier and more self-reliant.Lynda suggested I should go see the group’s founder, Sister Lucy Kurien, speak at one of her talks in Hyderabad. I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical at first—I had seen other charities in the past that had taken money and fled rather than following through on promises. But I kept an open mind and decided to go.I was really moved by the work Sister Lucy talked about. One Maher project, called Pragati (for progress), offers health education to rural villages. Through role-playing skits and an on-site person providing information, Pragati teaches village residents about family planning, child care, and gender bias. Another program provides skills training to help young people land good jobs.My family wouldn’t say I’m a very emotional person, but I was so inspired by the work Sister Lucy is doing that I went to tell her so after her talk. We hugged, and tears started flowing. Cause for celebrationSoon after, I told Lynda how inspired I was by the experience. Lynda mentioned that the group had an anniversary event coming up in Pune, and we wanted to be there together for the celebration.We made it happen—and that’s how we finally met in person! It was wonderful to come together with a colleague to support something we both care about deeply. We met there again in August when I brought my wife and children with me for the trip from Hyderabad to Pune, and Lynda brought her son.Supporting Maher has also helped me form a deeper relationship with my family. Since bringing my children there, they’ve started asking to visit again and have been thinking about more ways of helping other people. The opportunity to inspire my children to think about giving is thanks to the connections I’ve developed with Lynda and Maher while at ServiceNow.I’m glad to work at a place where I can develop deep ties to my colleagues and community. When we give back and share those experiences, we spark even stronger connections all around.Get to know more about life at LIKE.TG.
Giving at Now: How colleagues are empowering each other to keep giving back
Firefighting is in my bones: My uncle was a volunteer firefighter in the town where I grew up in England, and my father-in-law was a fire chief in the English city of Lancaster. I carry on this family tradition as a volunteer firefighter in my own community—Amherst, New Hampshire. For the last three years, I’ve been firefighting while also growing my career at LIKE.TG across roles on the DevOps and Solutions Consulting teams. In my current role as a partner solution architect, I provide technical support around various integrations and help our partners make sure they are following best practices. Throughout the intensive firefighter training, my managers and colleagues have provided incredible support so that I can juggle both of these parts of my life. Firefighting is definitely different from my day job but I enjoy helping people and I’m happy that I get to do that in many ways. I want the firefighting work I do in my community to inspire my children to feel passionate about contributing to the world, just like my family inspired me.When I began the volunteer firefighter program, I wasn’t sure if I would have enough time and energy because the training requirements are physically draining with a demanding schedule. I completed 350 hours for the initial training over several months. The training was a combination of work in and out of the classroom. It covered everything from ropes and knots to water rescue, radio communication and chain of command, to the complexities of wildland fires. Can you imagine learning all of that while still making sure that LIKE.TG is delivering powerful products to our customers? I couldn’t have balanced the two without the support of my manager. While training as a firefighter, my role at LIKE.TG involved a lot of travel to meet with customers—something I loved doing—so my manager, Justin Bogli, worked with me to make sure that I could stay local to my community on nights when I needed to attend firefighter training. One weekend was dedicated to hose blocks—carrying giant hoses full of water to put out simulated fires, learning to climb up the buildings and into windows to learn different angles of attack. That was one of the most physically demanding weekends. My teammates were also very understanding and willing to help me cover work commitments when needed. There was one day when I needed to drive 300 miles to a team meeting in New York City, and I needed to be back in time for my training that evening. My teammate, Jerome Bomengo, offered to stay and handle the customer meetings for the team so I could make the long journey back to New Hampshire. I walked in the door one-minute before training began. I always made sure I could return the favor when possible, it formed a great sense of kinship among us.Now that I’m certified, I work on-call as a volunteer firefighter, and my pager goes off whenever there is an incident. I respond to situations like car accidents and medical calls or brush fires and building fires. Our fire crew also hosts community outreach events to engage with residents and raise money for local causes—many of which my LIKE.TG teammates have generously supported with donations. Recently, they helped raise over $2,000 for the New Hampshire 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb, an event that honors firefighters who gave their lives on 9/11. The money raised will go to programs led by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, including providing support to the families of fallen firefighters. Some of the firefighters who rushed into the World Trade Center towers that day climbed dozens of stories with full gear—an incredible feat of physical endurance. In the Memorial Stair Climb, I climbed the equivalent of 110 stories to honor the heroism of the 9/11 firefighters. I thought I would be fit enough to handle it but I had aching calves for about three days afterward. It made me all the more appreciative of the superhuman effort of the 9/11 first responders.I’m aiming to spend at least 10 years as a volunteer firefighter and I’m grateful that I have such an awesome team of managers and colleagues at LIKE.TG who have supported me in giving back to my community. By empowering my volunteerism over the past few years, I know that they have my back. And they know that if there’s ever anything I can do for them, I’ll gladly be there to contribute however I can.Work with people who care. Explore careers with us.
Giving back: Employees pack 825,000 meals for charity
At LIKE.TG, we embrace a culture of giving back. Knowing the importance of service, we embed it into our events. We thrive on helping to improve the lives of vulnerable people, finding purpose and growing closer to each other in the process.[We’re hiring. Explore LIKE.TG careers.]Our Unified Technology Group (UTG) exemplifies this service mindset. Its members gathered in person this summer for the first time in more than two years, and they did a lot more than remark on how much taller everyone looks in the flesh.UTG is a group of software engineers, technical support managers, designers, and many others. Together, they weave the technical fabric of the Now Platform to help customers get the best possible experience.At the first-ever UTG Connect events held at eight locations around the world, employees whose relationships were once limited to email interactions and Zoom calls came face to face. They forged and rekindled friendships during get-to-know-you speed mixers, 47 unique learning sessions, customer interviews, and exciting talks from senior leadership.An opportunity to give backOn the last day of the events, thousands of LIKE.TG UTG employees—from Australia to India to Amsterdam to the US—donned hair nets and gloves and hunkered down to package meals for Rise Against Hunger.Targeting remote, last-mile communities within hunger pockets often overlooked by non-governmental organizations, Rise Against Hunger works to empower these communities by tackling their food insecurity challenges. The organization relies on volunteers to package meals.LIKE.TG saw this as a great chance to give back en masse, transforming our 6,000 motivated UTG employees into life-saving volunteers.Assembly linesWhen Senior Support Account Manager Jason G. first heard about the initiative at his Orlando location, he wasn’t surprised. “I’ve already known our company for several years to be focused on community and service…It’s in line with what I know LIKE.TG to be.”With music blaring, employee volunteers stood shoulder to shoulder in meal-packing assembly lines, each person an essential point in a long chain of production. “We were singing and dancing while working,” says Tracy S., a senior account escalation manager who also attended the Orlando event. “It was infectious—a maelstrom of energy, a hurricane.” By the time the packages reached the end of the line, they’d been filled with precise portions of rice, soy, vegetables, and essential vitamins and minerals. When opened, the meals would be in the hands of hungry schoolchildren or a family struggling through a climate disaster halfway around the world.Murali S., AI solution success VP, worked at the Santa Clara event and reflected on the importance of giving back. “While we feel joyous about all of the results, the event also was a reminder about the broader economic situation globally,” he says.“Packing the food bags allowed us to connect to people who are significantly less fortunate than us…It was just a few hours of work, and we could make an impact.”“The reality check is important,” adds Amol K., a product usage and data engineering manager who also volunteered at the Santa Clara event.Building community in a new wayOnce the assembly lines got into a rhythm, it was hard to stop. “We turned it into a factory,” Amol says.“I worked with totally new people I’d never met before,” notes Bhavana V., a software engineer, regarding her experience at the Hyderabad, India, event. “It was an opportunity to work together as a team.”For Tracy, who grew up in Latin America and the Caribbean, packing meals for children felt personal. “Growing up, I would see children in disenfranchised situations,” she says. “To see the company doing this on a global level where we’re not only helping children in the US but from all over the world, I felt it was such a community thing to do…I felt like I was boots on the ground.”The finish lineBy the end of these events, more than 825,000 meals had been packaged and sent to those in need.Murali felt empowered by the harmony and teamwork he witnessed. “At the company level, it's amazing how we can amplify the impact by just synchronizing our efforts over those two or three hours and getting a few thousand people to put that together. It feels powerful,” he reflects.“The thing that holds me,” Jason adds, “is that we're genuine. We put the effort behind the marketing. It's not just flash. It's not just bang. We do these things.”Join a company committed to giving back. Browse job opportunities at ServiceNow.
Glassdoor names Bill McDermott a Top CEO
We’re excited to announce that LIKE.TG has made Glassdoor’s Top CEOs 2021 list for the first time, further confirming that LIKE.TG is a great place to work. The annual ranking by the job and recruiting site recognizes CEOs in countries throughout North America and Europe who shine brightest according to the folks who know them best: their employees.LIKE.TG CEO Bill McDermott ranks at No. 27 out of 50 on the UK list, with an impressive 97% approval rating. On the US large company list, McDermott appears at No. 37 out of 50 with a 95% approval rating.As one employee shared in their Glassdoor review, “Bill McDermott and his top management team are the greatest team I’ve ever had the pleasure to work for in my long career.”Other employees echoed that sentiment: “Awesome culture, great CEO” “CEO is a rock star...energy, humble, inspirational” “Awesome CEO and senior exec bench” “Stellar CEO with values and integrity” “This company and CEO are the real deal” Top CEO winners are determined based entirely on employee feedback shared anonymously on Glassdoor over the past year. To qualify, a company must have a 3.0 overall rating or higher and receive a minimum of 100 employee reviews. LIKE.TG currently has a 4.3 Glassdoor rating. A passion for empowering peopleThe ranking credits McDermott for leading LIKE.TG through one of the most difficult years in business history. Amid the pandemic, McDermott inspired employees to live their purpose of making the world of work, work better for people and led with frequent communications and transparency while putting the health, safety, and well-being of employees first.McDermott continues to lead by example, taking a people-first approach to everything. “Let people work the way they want to, not how software dictates they have to,” he says. “Let people easily build the experiences they dream of.”Toward that end, he’s a strong advocate of creativity. “Our team of 14,000 colleagues are exponential thinkers. This is how we continuously bring innovation to everything we do.”He adds, “We are deeply committed to attracting, retaining, and developing the absolute best talent in this industry. And we are fiercely dedicated to diversity, inclusion, and belonging—it makes us stronger.”Come join us in making the world of work, work better for people. Visit our careers page.LIKE.TG, the LIKE.TG logo, Now, and other LIKE.TG marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of LIKE.TG, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other company names, product names, and logos may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
Glassdoor: LIKE.TG is still one of the Best Places to Work
We’re thrilled to announce that for the second year in a row, the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards have ranked LIKE.TG as one of the Best Places to Work 2023 in two categories: No. 2 out of 50 on Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work UK list No. 9 out of 100 on Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work U.S. Large company list These rankings are determined based on anonymous and voluntary employee feedback. One LIKE.TG employee shared, “LIKE.TG cares about its employees. The positive culture is authentic and genuine. It is easy to get excited about work when everyone around you is also inspired and positive."Committed to helping each otherWe believe much of the reason we jumped 14 spots on the U.S. list and remained in the top three of the UK list can be attributed to our People Pact. It’s our commitment to each other at LIKE.TG to “live our best lives, do our best work, and fulfill our purpose together.” We do that in a number of ways.In our distributed world of work, we lead with flexibility and trust. We know there’s more to our people’s lives than work, and we celebrate that with a focus on well-being and belonging.
Global impact: Devoting hours to others during Month of Service
How do you measure a year? “In love,” according to the hit musical “Rent.” In October, LIKE.TG employees globally showed their love by volunteering during our first-ever Month of Service.[Work with people who care. Explore careers at ServiceNow.]Employees answered the campaign’s theme of “What can you do with an hour?” by participating in a wide variety of in-person and virtual events to make a global impact: Cleaning litter from parks and beaches Recording audiobooks for hospitalized children Sorting and packing at food banks Learning sign language and filming a video Our measure for the month? Nearly 7,000 hours.Here, three of the nearly 1,000 employees who took part in Month of Service discuss their experiences giving back to their communities and bonding with their colleagues.Making a difference and making friendsDavid T., a product success manager in enterprise DevOps, felt nervous walking up to a large group of LIKE.TG employees gathered on a beach in Santa Cruz, California. David, who lives a mile from that beach, had joined the company only five months earlier and knew no one there. But he says he felt immediately welcomed. “It was like, ‘These are my people,’ and we’re all here to help,” he recalls.As the volunteers collected trash and recyclables (56 pounds of it), David got to know colleagues who worked in finance, marketing, support, and DevOps. He connected with several employees who also work in Santa Cruz. “Before the cleanup, we all could have been driving down the highway on our way to work every day, passing each other, and we wouldn’t know that we’re right in each other’s backyards,” he says.David has already signed up for the next local beach cleanup. “What a great way to connect and do good for the planet!” he says. Restoring a local treasure for all to enjoyTomer A., a quality assurance engineer in service mapping and a member of LIKE.TG’s Global Impact Council in Israel, proposed several volunteering opportunities to the Israeli team. The one with the most votes was a cleanup of the Ben Shemen Forest in central Israel. It’s a favorite spot for picnics, hiking, and bike riding and contains historical sites.“People’s awareness of the environment is growing. They understand that doing something like this cleanup is important and worth their time,” Tomer says.In two hours, the group of 17 employees filled three large trash bags and even hauled away a portable plastic bathtub.The Israeli team has the highest volunteer participation rate of any LIKE.TG office. Tomer thinks it’s because leadership across the company strongly supports volunteering, and the local culture team is passionate about their work.He joined the culture team about a year ago, eager to contribute. “It’s something that was missing at the company I used to work for, so when I was asked to join the council, I didn’t hesitate,” he says.Building bonds with far-flung colleaguesKatalin T., a senior customer support representative and team lead for customer support administration, organized two virtual events for her geographically dispersed team in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Both were managed through the virtual volunteering service of LIKE.TG partner Goodera, which helps companies advance their volunteering and other global impact initiatives.One event involved sending anonymous letters of support through Letters to Strangers, a global nonprofit that works to destigmatize mental illness and improve access to treatment for youth. Katalin and her fellow volunteers selected the topics they wanted to write about and then wrote messages of understanding and encouragement. Katalin chose to write about teen suicide. “I really hope that what I wrote will be helpful to someone at some point,” she says. The other event was for the US nonprofit 826CHI, which serves youth. The volunteers learned sign language and then recorded a video message signing the word “love.” The videos will be sent to youth with hearing impairments.Virtual volunteering is a great way to bond with your team, Katalin says. Because her group works in three countries, it’s hard to build a sense of community. “I was really happy to see how popular these events were among my colleagues," she says. "They’re always asking when the next event is scheduled.”What might you do with an hour?Throughout the year—not just for one month—LIKE.TG employees across the globe help individuals and communities thrive. As part of our Global Impact program, employees get 20 hours of paid time off per year to volunteer for causes they care about.Despite the restrictions on engagement brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to make a difference during those “525,600 minutes” invoked in the “Rent” song.Join us. Explore job opportunities at ServiceNow.
Go from reactive to proactive IT operations with AI
On your journey from reactive to proactive IT operations, you may be unsure where to start. If your organization is lacking visibility into your operations, that’s the best place to begin. Automation and artificial intelligence (AI) can help you gain that needed visibility.AIOps and visibilityArtificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) offers numerous benefits, including faster response time, improved IT health, and simpler IT management. Most importantly, AIOps can help you stay in control of your operations.In our on-demand Now Book Club featuring AIOps webinar, a panel of experts discusses the AIOps & Visibility for Dummies ebook. Join them to: Get to know AIOps. Explore AIOps use cases. Find out how to increase operational efficiency. Discover best practices for starting an AIOps journey. Learn what to consider when implementing AIOps. Automated IT asset visibilityAll too often, organizations have a disconnect between their service desk and IT asset information. As a result, unauthorized changes go unnoticed or the true impact of change on multiple services is misjudged.Automated IT asset discovery and service mapping can help improve your visibility and workflows. Watch our Improve your service management with automated IT asset visibility webinar to find out how. LIKE.TG IT Operations Management (ITOM) experts Matt Gowarty and Steve Emerson will walk you through ways to integrate IT asset visibility into your global work processes.Modern IT workflowsMany businesses fail fast as they try new things and rapidly release updates to keep up with their competition. But they need smooth-running business processes behind those changes. Employing AI to power your service operations can help you overcome both challenges.Learn how in our Modernize IT workflows with LIKE.TG AI-powered service operations webinar. LIKE.TG Principal Architect Christian Malone will share insights from others who have successfully used the Now Platform to build and scale their IT operations.
Governments need a Total Experience model for service delivery
At its core, government should be human centered. To deliver the best experiences for people, agencies must put citizens and employees first. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for many public sector agencies to rely on legacy operating models to get work done. These models were not built with the user in mind, but rather the task at hand. Now, as governments tackle digital transformation, new opportunities arise to make service delivery and operations more human and more citizen-centric.Government has entered an era of human-centered design, where priority is placed on people’s needs and what is most convenient for them. It’s about putting user experience first.What it takes to build an experience-led agencyEmployee Experience (EX) and Customer Experience (CX) have both become major priorities for many government agencies. While both are clearly important, they are often treated separately, creating missed opportunities for truly transformational experiences.The future of government work is changing. As technology advances, demographics shift, and citizen expectations evolve, agencies are re-evaluating and rearchitecting how work gets done. Governments need to adapt and consider how to improve all interactions, both employee and citizen.There’s an undeniable link between a good employee experience and better citizen experience. When employees are happy and motivated, they provide better service for citizens. But experiences can’t be improved overnight. It’s the intersection between humans, processes, and technology that yields the biggest change.Total Experience (TX), a strategy that creates superior shared experiences by connecting the employee and customer experiences, seeks to unite these for a better outcome for all concerned.The role of technology in TX“It’s human-centric products and services that make the best use of emerging and emerged technologies, be they the relatively simple website to advanced AI enabled by the cloud,” said Simon Cooper, director of digital government-focused customer strategy at Deloitte. “That in turn transforms how government operates and how those experiences are delivered in terms of services.”The public sector is seeing growing demand for faster, digitally-enabled service delivery. Technologies such as AI, automation, and cloud are helping agencies meet that demand. Deloitte outlines how automation and AI provide an opportunity to improve efficiency and ease the burden for employees and citizens by:· Doing more work: Computers can process more data at a higher speed—enabling more work to get done without increasing employee workload.· Doing work better: Optimized processes help agencies improve quality, lower costs, and enhance speed—freeing up employee time for more strategic tasks.· Doing work differently: AI gives agencies the ability to redesign work as a partnership between human workers and intelligent machines—taking advantage of the unique strengths of both.With the implementation of automation and AI into day-to-day processes, employees can focus their efforts on more pressing and high-level issues. This means employees are more satisfied and can deliver better experiences for citizens. But despite the potential that digital technologies offer to government, innovating with a TX lens comes with its challenges.Removing the roadblocks to building the government of the futureThe government of the future will be experience-driven—but getting there is no simple task. Like any new initiative, government leaders face their own set of challenges in building experience-driven agencies. A 2021 LIKE.TG and ESI ThoughtLab report surveyed 900 senior business leaders in five industries across 13 countries to identify the top-of-mind challenges leaders face when building an experience-driven organization:1. Uncertainty around the potential ROI and business case, as an experience focus is still a new concept for many leaders and management teams2. Lack of shared metrics for EX and CX, making it daunting to bridge the gap and develop a unified strategy3. Overall employee resistance to change driven by employees wanting to stick to known approaches and ways of operatingHow these challenges are addressed will influence the success of your TX strategy. To be truly experience-driven, government agencies will need to go beyond treating customer and employee experiences as separate disciplines and take a TX approach to interactions. With a more holistic strategy, agencies can improve citizen outcomes, lower errors and costs in government processes and programs, and better attract and retain an engaged workforce.Discover how government leaders globally are driving total experience efforts.
Great customer experience is easier than you think
Lionel Richie thinks Sunday morning is easy. Ella Fitzgerald thinks living is easy when it’s summertime. Loving is easy too, according to Rex Orange County.I haven’t heard anyone sing about customer experience just yet (Alexa?). But every time I preorder my Starbucks latte so it’s waiting for me at the store on my way to work, I’m reminded just how important easy is. If easy is the on/off switch for great experience, then speed controls the volume. We expect good things to happen faster than ever before.Reducing customer effortThere’s been a lot of talk about delighting customers. I’m a huge fan of anything that sparks joy. But in most cases, what customers really want is for things to work the way they should—without delay or hassle. For example: You forgot to cancel a direct debit. When you contact your bank, you’re not in search of delight. You want to recoup the money—fast. And you want to know when it’s back in your account. Your telecom provider needs to do essential maintenance. That’s fine, but you’d like advance warning of any potential disturbance. Nobody wants to lose connection halfway through an important call. When a family member relies on in-home healthcare, you need absolute confidence in the caregivers. You expect them to anticipate your relative’s needs, get ahead of potential problems, and deliver outstanding support. Great customer experience is about making life and work easier for your customers. And that depends on understanding and eliminating their pain points—delivering more of what they want and less of what they don’t.Building from the inside outPutting customers at the center of everything we do is essential. But the term “customer first” can be misleading. Time and again, I’ve seen how great customer experience starts with putting your employees first, not your customers. Effortless experience builds from the inside out.Here’s something obvious but important: People who pursue careers in customer service want to serve customers. They want to be heroes. But you can’t be a knight in shining armor if your armor’s rusty. As the Great Resignation continues to sweep through organizations, it’s essential that we nurture and support talent. We must equip employees with technologies that make work easier. By automating routine and mundane tasks, we can create space for talented professionals to add value that only humans can.It’s imperative to create engaging and effective self-service options for customers—not just because customers want to self-serve (and they do), but because it reduces call volumes. It allows customer service representatives to focus on supporting customers who want and need their support.It’s never been more important to attract and retain top talent. The best people want to work for a shared purpose in a collaborative organization, one that shows it respects and values them with actions, not just words.Working backwardLIKE.TG is about action, not words. With one platform, one architecture, and one data model, we can help break down silos and build connective tissue across your organization.The Now Platform® organizes work into discrete tasks. Clever automation ensures those tasks flow across people and functions, accelerating work and elevating talent. Everyone has the information and visibility they need to get more done—and they have more time for valuable interactions with customers.As Steve Jobs said, "You've got to start with the customer experience and work backward to the technology." That’s exactly what we do. We work backward to ensure our customers bring the power of their whole organization to better serve their customers.Delivering resultsLet’s take a look at the difference we’re making for a few of our customers and a whole load of theirs:When Lloyds Bank relied on manual processes, it could take up to three days to process direct debit refunds. Now that those processes have been automated, 62% of refund cases are handled in less than three minutes. And all refunds are in customers’ accounts within 30 seconds.Thanks to LIKE.TG, Rogers Communications, a leading Canadian telecom provider, has the visibility it needs to get ahead of issues and keep customers informed. The company has reduced daily case volumes by 41% and status requests by 43%. Customers are more likely to recommend Rogers (71% give them a nine or 10 out of 10 for “likelihood to recommend”), and employee satisfaction is at 91%.Tunstall specializes in technology that enables home healthcare for the elderly and vulnerable and supports caregivers in the field. LIKE.TG makes it easier for the organization to deliver efficient, effective, and empathetic care. As a result, customer satisfaction has increased 70%.Friction-free customer experienceNot everything in life is easy. But, when it comes to products and services, effortless experience and speedy resolution are what make customers sing your praises and come back for more.Find out more about how LIKE.TG can help your organization deliver effortless customer experience.
Great Customer Service Can Come with Great Cost Savings
Insights from the Forrester Total Economic ImpactTM Study on the Business Benefits of LIKE.TG Customer Service Management Customer service holds the key to business success. Great customer service leads to greater customer satisfaction and loyalty, which research shows leads to revenue gains and profitability increases.LIKE.TG can help companies achieve the great customer service they need to move the needle. To prove that point, LIKE.TG commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study on the potential return on investment (ROI) an enterprise may realize by standardizing on LIKE.TG Customer Service Management.To find out how companies are saving millions with LIKE.TG and creating great customer experiences, check out guest speaker Sean Owens, Principal Consultant, Total Economic Impact Practice, Forrester Consulting, who presents the study’s key findings here.Here’s a recap of some of the questions webinar listeners had for Owens:The study found $1.8 million in cost savings could be achieved by using more efficient support channels. How do you optimize value in a mixed service environment of phone, email, and web? First, you need to look at all the support channels in place at your organization and determine what each one costs. Next, you need to identify which are the most efficient for your business and which are the simplest and most convenient for your customers. Ideally, they will be one and the same. Then, you need to employ strategies that help move usage away from the most expensive channels, which is usually phone, to the ones that are the simplest to use and maintain, which is usually web.We saw the use of phones drop to 10% when customers were given alternatives they preferred; web contacts grew to 90% and email was eliminated. Contacts that migrated from phone or email to the web portal represented a savings of $2 to $5 per contact (the difference in the cost per contact between phone/email and web).While you may not have email in the mix, you might have chat and social media channels. Any changes—including a new customer service management solution that can now manage all your support channels—should help you divert traffic to more efficient channels and drive down costs per contact for each channel.Organizations can realize significant savings by standardizing on LIKE.TG Customer Service Management, but are there opportunities to save for existing customers? Even if you’re not replacing a legacy system and are a current LIKE.TG customer, there may be opportunities to achieve additional cost savings with your deployment. For example, take a look at your overall management costs. How are you tracking support? If you are using a homegrown database or other more manual processes that require staff or IT resource time, those costs may represent a potential savings opportunity.How exactly do you measure success with Net Present Value (NPV) and Return on Investment (ROI)?The short answer is that any NPV over $0 usually indicates a good (successful) investment and any ROI over 0% a positive return. The explanation of why requires a little more detail: NPV —this takes a series of cash flow values over time and summarizes them in a single number that reflects “today’s dollars.” It assumes a dollar you earn today is worth more to you than a dollar earned in a year, because you can spend or invest it now. Similarly, a dollar spent today is more costly than a dollar you spend next year, because you can use or invest that money for an extra year.The NPV equation uses a discount rate, as a percentage, to account for how much more today’s dollar is worth than next year’s dollar. Forrester Consulting TEI projects use a 10% rate. Ultimate, an NPV of more than $0 is a positive investment. Note, any decisions on whether or not to invest in a project with a lower or higher NPV is subjective. You may need to consider additional factors, such as the size of the project, your business, and other strategic or unquantified benefits. ROI—this is the ratio of net benefits and total costs. So, anything over 0% reflects a positive return on your investment, and higher ROIs indicate a project that will likely be more successful. There is no exact ROI value to decide whether or not to invest in a project or not — it depends on a variety of factors including the project scope, your industry, and your organization’s appetite for risk. But any ROI with three digits should be a strong contender.To learn more about how enterprises were able to reduce support costs, improve customer satisfaction and retention, and even drive support contract revenue with LIKE.TG, check out the full study or webinar.
Growing a sales career in South Korea
In South Korea, hard work is a virtue of utmost importance. This culturally embedded spirit of pride in a job well done is paying off for LIKE.TG’s fast-growing Korean sales team. Employees are exploring and enjoying the company’s well-being and flexibility benefits, trust, and the globally inclusive culture.“I feel like I’m on a rocket. I really feel it!” says Jaden B., a senior enterprise account executive. “The market is very interested in LIKE.TG and the solutions we provide.”[We’re hiring. Explore LIKE.TG sales careers.]Freedom and empowermentJaden came to LIKE.TG from a company that already had a strong foothold in Korea. Now, he’s building the foundation for what’s to come at LIKE.TG, he says. “It’s challenging, but that’s why I’m enjoying it. I really feel supported to try new things.”Like Jaden, Heejung O. cherishes the freedom to own her work, as that's not the cultural norm in Korea. “I couldn’t do that at other companies,” explains the solution sales executive, who’s been in her position for eight months. “LIKE.TG is more flexible, and it made me feel very creative. Also, there was no solution sales executive before me, so I’m the pioneer.”Heejung is also energized by the fast growth of the team. “It's very exciting. I’ve never seen this kind of organization growing so fast. There are lots of people newly joined, with different roles and responsibilities. I think, ‘Wow! Our company is growing, and I’m part of it,’” she says. “That’s why I’m very happy.”She also loves learning about diverse perspectives from her colleagues, including her manager, who’s based in Australia and often travels to Singapore. A look backAs one of the first employees on the Korean team, Mark J., a senior enterprise account executive, reflects on the early days, which weren’t that long ago. “When we were just starting, it was just me and a few other people. We went from three to more than 40 people in just two years,” he says.When Mark started at LIKE.TG, a large client company headquartered in Korea had to work mostly with LIKE.TG’s English-speaking team members. “Now we can answer their questions real time in Korean. It gives the client confidence to ask questions more freely, as the language barrier is reduced,” he notes.“Before, there was a lot of back and forth, some confusion. Now, the client is very happy to have this personal relationship,” he adds. “And, with our technology, we were able to take them off their old legacy systems into a new, much more efficient platform to manage their IT systems.”Work-life balanceWhen he’s not working, Jaden cherishes time with his 5-year-old daughter. “She’s growing so fast. I don’t want to lose this moment, so I spend as much time with her as possible,” he says.Jaden also loves ‘60s music—he even attends meetups to geek out on it and purchase albums. And recently, he took on the challenge of hiking many kilometers solo around Korea’s beautiful Jeju Island.“Hiking really clears my mind and helps me release any tension so I can think more clearly,” he explains. “At LIKE.TG, HR really lets us know that it’s important to keep balance. Sometimes I catch myself working really hard and don’t take enough time for myself. But I know this company supports balance, so I feel comfortable.” Mark is happy concentrating on work “because it’s so fun,” he says. But he loves to play with his two kids every chance he gets. “Sometimes they come on to my Zoom calls and wave at the camera,” he laughs. “It’s important to us that the family eats dinner together every night when my wife gets home from her work.”Heejung has a teenage daughter and also prioritizes eating meals with her family. “We eat lunch and dinner together as a family every day,” she says. “Our favorite thing to do is travel, but we haven’t been able to, due to COVID. We’ve been reading travel books and planning a trip to Portugal for the last two years,” she shares. “We can’t wait to go.”A place to growThe Korean sales team is enthusiastic about the future of LIKE.TG and the opportunities and benefits the company provides. “For anyone considering it, it’s a good decision to join LIKE.TG’s Korea team right now,” Mark says. “You can really grow and learn in both work and life together, really having fun. But, you should have a growth mindset.”“I’m excited to keep learning and become an expert so that I can teach new people who join the Korea team,” Heejung adds. “It’s exciting because we’re regularly bringing on new, big clients. Professionally, it’s a very supportive place to grow.”Join us to do your best work, live your best life, and fulfill our purpose together.Explore sales jobs at ServiceNow.
Guide to Employee Rewards and Recognition Budget
The workforce of the 21st century not only needs good pay and benefits but also appreciation from the management and peers to boost their engagement and productivity. While most companies already have some kind of incentive program to motivate their employees, many are just starting to implement rewards and recognition programs that their employees appreciate. The success of such programs relies on having a robust strategy that is backed up by a steady budget. Before you go ahead with working out your employee rewards and recognition budget, it is essential to consider variables such as the overall goals, recognition methods that the employees appreciate, and the existing budget allocated. With all that said, here is how you arrive at a rewards and recognition budget: Start from existing employee recognition budget Even companies that have no formal recognition programs have some budget allocated for rewards and recognition from employee benefits. The issue with not having a strategy is that companies might end up spending more than necessary, or in some cases, less. The rewards can be in the form of employee celebration activities, lunches, or thank you cards. The initiatives in such instances have little accountability and no tracking of the budget, making the whole process inefficient. So how much should you spend on employee recognition realistically? One recent work survey by SHRM found that the number should be greater than 1% of the payroll. The HR professionals in the survey reported that the recognition programs were “excellent” when the budget was at least 1% or more of the payroll. Depending on the profitability some organizations might spend higher and even go up to 10% of the payroll. What is essential to understand is that rewards and recognition programs are a cost-effective way to boost employee morale and productivity and save on the losses incurred from disengagement and attrition. An added benefit is that companies can also promote themselves through job advertisements and social media that they are a desirable employer. Introduction to Conflict in the Workplace(and How it Erodes Productivity & Culture) Download the Ebook Now Consider the impact of your rewards and recognition program If you are setting up a rewards and recognition program, it is done with the goal of making a significant impact on the employees. Consider the stats: a study by AttaCoin revealed that 88% of the respondents agreed that companies should reward employees effectively but only 41% believed that their employers did so. Going further, an effective rewards program made 90% of the respondents feel that their work made a difference. Also note that employee productivity will grow to 1.7% annually. Effective rewards and recognition program has to be frequent, timely, specific, visible, and value-based to motivate employees to become highly engaged. And there are benefits to it; companies with employees who are highly engaged are 21% more profitable. In the same survey, it was found that 69% of employees are willing to work harder if they were better appreciated by their employers. This shows the power of recognition as it is human nature to be perceived as valued by our fellow peers. While monetary incentives are strong motivators, recognition needs to be varied and performed at different levels as was found in a recent employee engagement report. When it came to highly engaged employees, 84% of them had received recognition for going the extra mile. Improving employee experience doesn'tneed to be difficult - or expensive! Learn how Type of Rewards and Recognition Program Whether you have allocated based on a percentage of the payroll or set a flat amount, the recognition budget per employee can be split into any of these popular recognition programs: Spot awards Spot awards are popular with the new generation of the workforce as it is based on immediate recognition. The employees are awarded on the spot for a task well-done or a specific project. Spot awards are a wonderful choice when it comes to frequent and ongoing recognition. They help to recognize and reinforce behaviors and efforts that are valued by the company. Performance recognition Performance recognition relies on the output of employees and they are a great way to boost engagement in teams. The recognition rewards motivate employees to reach targets be it in sales or in other programs such as safety or wellness initiatives. Performance recognition also relies heavily on reinforcing expected behaviors through rewards. Social recognition Social recognition appeals to our need to be appreciated and rewarded by the group. It can also be used as a way to reinforce organizational culture. Platforms for social recognition allow all the initiatives to be visible in one place and employees earn points that can be redeemed in the form of gifts or merchandise. This form of recognition has gained more popularity since the work-from-home culture became the norm. Service awards program This is the traditional model of appreciation that has been around for decades. With a service awards program, employees are recognized for their long service to the organization. It is known to improve employee retention as studies show that a milestones program makes employees in the US stay for an average of two more years. To learn even more about managing remote teams and keeping employees working at home highly engaged, download our ebook now. Download now Other recognition ideas on a budget To diversify your rewards and recognition program, you can also try: Perks and Benefits: Non-monetary benefits seem to have even more impact on employees than cash prizes. Offering gift cards or coupons for their favorite brand adds a personal touch to the rewards program. Benefits on specific brands, restaurants, eCommerce multi vendor marketplaces, fitness centers, and digital rewards are good places to start. Anniversary/Festival Incentives: Gifts for anniversaries is how the company can demonstrate their appreciation for the employee’s tenure. Gifts on festive occasions such as birthdays, festivals, and the birth of children also add a thoughtful, personal touch. Social media appreciation: Apart from the recognition you give the employee on the company’s internal platform, recognition on popular social media platforms can go a long way in boosting the employee’s morale. Recognition of achievement on a social media platform where friends and family of the employee can view the appreciation is a great self-esteem booster. Peer-to-peer recognition: Having their peers appreciate them for a job well-done is sometimes more effective than having the higher management do the same. Peer-to-peer recognition is known to boost employee engagement. “Our staff has praised the increased communications level Workmates delivers. We use it to communicate important project matters and give staff specific ‘kudos’ or even recognize their birthdays. More importantly, we use Workmates to clarify important project details that needed rapid dissemination among the entire team.” Christopher Baggott Chief Executive Officerator of Medlinks Cost Containment, Inc. and Medlinks Staffing, LLC. Learn More Important Considerations for employee rewards and recognition budget Streamline rewards and recognition on one platform Whether the organization has a few dozen employees or a few thousand, having a single platform to manage rewards and recognition programs is easier when it is digitized. Technology platforms help manage the programs effectively and save money over traditional ways of management. The platform helps everybody stay on the same page and gives a holistic view of the rewards and recognition program to the respective departments. Tailor the approach for high impact Depending on the specific goals of your department or the organization, tailor the program to fit what you want to prioritize. Since the costs can vary significantly with the type of program chosen, you need to scale the rewards and recognition efforts to match the goals. So how do you reward employees on a budget without going overboard? Use a peer-to-peer program to suit the budget instead of a festival incentive or milestone-based award. Peer-to-peer programs are highly rewarding while being low-cost per transaction. Watch out for unforeseen costs What catches the HR departments by surprise are the hidden fees associated with some platforms in the forms of technology fees, set up charges, and shipping and handling charges. When planning employee recognition ideas on a budget, it becomes even more important to be precise about the costs involved. Keep Taxes in mind To avoid a nasty surprise in the form of additional penalties slapped on your program, start your budgeting keeping taxation in mind. Cash awards and other prizes can be considered as taxable income under the law while some reward programs are exempted from it. So ensure that your tax advisor is kept in the loop from the beginning of the budgeting process. This is also the time when having a single platform to manage rewards and recognition saves tremendous amounts of time and effort by keeping the information in one place. Spread out the employee recognition budget on different programs When you set up your rewards and recognition program on a single platform, it becomes easier to show appreciation in many different forms ranging from social media shout-outs to highlighting accomplishments during important meetings and offering gift cards. The variation adds more meaning to the recognition and rewards employees in a manner that they are most satisfied with. Therefore spread out the budget into several programs other than the norm such as health and wellness, upskilling programs, employee referrals, and more. Conclusion Rewards and recognition are an integral part of the strategy to boost the morale of the modern-day workforce and make them more engaged, productive, and satisfied with their job. So how much do you budget on employee rewards and recognition such that it gives the most bang for the buck? The simplest answer is greater than 1% of the payroll. However, there are advantages to pushing it higher in organizations where recognition is at the core of the talent strategy. Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
Happy Employees And 5 More Benefits Of The Flexible Workplace
Covid has definitely made an impact on our personal lives and the way we work - there’s a true struggle of balancing out our professional and personal side. Employee happiness has become an ever-important factor, with burnout and disengagement becoming a real threat to the modern workplace. As offices begin to reopen, and as we slowly return to our pre-pandemic routine, managers are getting a bit antsy over setting up their own workplace of tomorrow. For the employees who worked from home during the pandemic, this was a true test of resilience - and they’re becoming increasingly interested in more flexible work arrangements. It seems that a more hybrid workplace is the way to go. According to a survey from Microsoft, up to 73% of employees would like more flexible remote work options. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all type of solution, there are definitely benefits to this work model. After all, industries across the globe kept going, meaning the workforce adapted and overcame its obstacles successfully. One thing is certain - happy employees are productive employees. And as trends shift in terms of employer branding and responsibility for a better employee experience, the ball is in the employer court. Here are some ideas on how you can increase employee happiness while running your business on the new normal standard. Let Them Set Up Their Own Rules The new work model obviously works, there’s no denying it. Granted, in the light of returning to the “old normal”, managers will be torn between rent prices for office space, and their team’s wish for a more flexible work model. The road they should take is establishing some ground rules. Establishing feasible rules will only work if everyone gets to pitch in. Listen to your employees and figure out a solution that works best for all sides - employee empowerment begins by listening to what employees have to say. The start can be fairly simple: establishing office and remote days. These can be predefined days of the week, or setting up the number of days your team is required to show up for work. A number of employers had work-from-home schemes set up prior to the pandemic, so it makes sense to beef up on those - especially if employees stand to benefit from that. Another way would be the company offering workations. While you’re establishing ground rules on your work models, try to hear out various departments - especially if you’re running a middle or large operation. Chances are that work from home is not the same for developers, accounting and HR; different departments have different clearance protocols, and handling sensitive data on a home network might prove to be an issue. See which challenges lie in front of different departments, and how you can resolve them together. Let Them Manage Their Own Time There are challenges on managers’ plates as well. As immediate work locations changed overnight for a big number of employees, managers were left struggling to both maintain and assess work effectiveness and work hours. Luckily, new tech came running to the rescue, and the boat was kept afloat. A number of tools, most of them in use even before the pandemic, quickly became staples of the modern workplace. As communication and management became easier, effectiveness and time tracking also became easy to handle and less of a challenge. This has proven to be a twofold benefit: it saves precious management time otherwise spent literally policing your team by making work insights easily available, you’re not breathing behind your team’s neck, which can often deteriorate team engagement and happiness. Modern times require modern rules, and an approach that moves along with the very dynamic times we live in. Empowerment is the buzzword in managerial circles, and it begins with a simple concept - trust. The modern manager must not only exude respect, but must showcase huge trust in their team being responsible for their actions. The operational solution can also be as simple as the concept: one way to do it is to try employee scheduling tools and empower the teams to track and design their own work schedule. It makes perfect sense that this is counterintuitive to some, but you’re actually showing trust by giving your team the responsibility for the time they clock in. Not only that, you’re putting them in the spotlight in front of their peers, and peer pressure can do wonders for increased productivity in an adult, professional setting. Provide A New Office Experience The whole story about employee empowerment doesn’t have to stop with time either. A pre-pandemic study showed open-plan offices were actually making teams less productive and collaborative. It’s strange how being physically close can actually make us less productive, but it makes sense on a number of levels. This is another cue for the modern manager to take. With the freedom to work from their homes - or any other location of their own choice - team members might be reluctant to come back to wide-open offices. The reasons can be productivity, concentration, privacy, even small and quirky workplace habits or better work life balance. And as shown during the pandemic, the office doesn’t have to be obligatory for the full time. You can work with your HR team to determine employee preferences for the coming time, and to see how your office design can improve both work metrics and employee attendance (if you’re after improving that in the first place). Designing novel workstations might be the way to go. The modern office can mostly do away with cubicles and personalized spaces for every employee, focusing instead on providing a place to work for workers when they do come to the office. The equipment and station design will vary greatly from one department to another, but in the era of powerful laptops (tablets even), this should not be an issue. Remember, the focus is setting up a working environment that enables people to come to the office when their presence is needed, and not go overboard with unnecessary gadgets. Meetings Flexibility Is A Must Whichever way your company - or your team - decides to go, meetings are inevitable. It’s also inevitable for them to be held in person in some instances, so this is another consideration when planning ahead. Be careful when setting up requirements; not all meetings require physical presence. A hybrid model, with meetings held online, is very doable these days - comms applications such as Slack, Zoom, Google Meet, or even the old and faithful Skype, all allow you to take part, voice opinions, and see your team members in real-time. When the time comes for actual meetings, or a situation requires you and your team to sit together and come up with solutions, make sure you can respect all the pandemic regulations. Also, if you’ll require your team to come to the office, try to come up with less formal parts on the agenda, and make a small event out of having all your people together in one place! An actual meeting is not only an opportunity for the employees to work together, but to be together after a long period of time! Impress The Newcomers Finally, growth will require you to expand your team at some point. As the trend of workplace flexibility is going into full swing, workers will naturally gravitate towards businesses that have already transitioned successfully. Taking into account all of the above, and making an action plan around those, will not only streamline your current workflows, but also act as a magnet for future hires! Remember that, when we’re talking about employer branding, we’re not talking only about employee experience (and retention). CX - Candidate Experience - is another big thing these days, and a happy work experience begins right at the get-go. This is something to keep in mind when designing your hiring protocols and employee onboarding - there are no reasons not to do it virtually. Parting thoughts As trends migrate fully to new work models, it pays off to stay ahead of the pack. The modern workplace is designed to try and keep the employees happy and motivated, since we all saw it was them who shouldered the burden right through the pandemic. However, the perks of the modern workplace are not mere benefits for your workforce, but actual catalysts for improving productivity and employee engagement as well. Leading your team (quite literally) into the future through these workplace improvements will prove to be a major employee retention factor! Author Bio: Derek spearheads key initiatives at Deputy, a global workforce management platform for employee scheduling, timesheets and communication. With a focus on workforce, Derek helps business owners and workforce leaders simplify employment law compliance, keep labor cost in line and build award-winning workplaces. Derek has over 16 years’ experience in delivering data-driven sales and marketing strategies to SaaS companies like MarketSource and Griswold Home Care.
Hardware Asset Management: Knowing When to Upgrade
When is it time to say goodbye? For a hardware device, that question can be tough to answer. Though the device has been in the environment for several years, there is still usable life left. So why would we retire and dispose the device and spend additional money on a replacement?With the device’s lifecycle information, that answer becomes much clearer. We know the intentions of the device manufacturer: When the device will no longer be available for purchase, when support will end, and when the device will go end of life.The next related issue is a big one: if we know a device should be retired, do we know where all the similar devices are in our environment? Without hardware asset management (HAM), discovery, and normalization, it’s nearly impossible to answer to this question.Enter the HAMStrong HAM processes capture information from the time of device purchase/receipt all the way to disposal. In between, HAM will tell us where the devices are in our stockrooms and warehouses. Next comes discovery, which tells us where in our environment these devices are installed.Discovery captures data from the device. This data will likely be captured with numerous variations in the manufacturer name, device model, and device model number. This is where normalization solves the variation problem. Normalization groups like devices together by standardizing the manufacturer and device model and model number.Get proactiveFor example, one company I know has been purchasing and deploying industrial routers throughout their environment since 2015. The IT Asset Management (ITAM) team has had a HAM program in place since 2011, so they have vendor and purchase history for all these routers and track where in-stock routers are stored.Because of their HAM program, they know the manufacturer of the industrial router stopped selling that model at the end of 2019, so they can no longer buy replacements. They also know the manufacturer will stop providing device and operating system support at the end of this year. Finally, they know that a vulnerability with these routers was recently discovered that allows attackers to intercept and decrypt network traffic routed through them.Thanks to normalization, the ITAM team has a complete list of all its industrial routers, whether the routers are deployed or in storage. Discovery tells them the location of all the deployed routers.With all this information on hand and with the lifecycle support date at the end of 2020 as the finish line, they have an upfront runway to select the best replacement router for their environment, negotiate with vendors to get the lowest price and set up a project to replace all the to-be retired routers in the environment.Be preparedThese are the benefits of being proactive. What’s the cost of being reactive? First, you may have to pay for extended support from a manufacturer because devices can’t be quickly replaced. And failure to track equipment through its lifecycle can create significant security risks. If you don’t know there is a risk or if you don’t know where all the risk-identified devices are in your environment, then your organization may be vulnerable. A security breach is not a price you want to pay.If you’d like to learn more, watch the on-demand webinar: “The ITAM Triforce – Discover the power of SAM, HAM, and the CMDB”
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