How to Celebrate Employee Appreciation Day Every Day
If you're a team leader, manager, or owner, can you think of the last time that you told your team they were doing a great job or that you appreciate them? If you have to think about the answer for a long time, that's not a great sign. All too often, employee appreciation is either grossly overlooked or attempted with too little sincerity. When this happens, employees don’t feel truly recognized and respected for their hard work. But it's never too late to change that. While celebrating Employee Appreciation Day is a good start, it’s actually far more important to show appreciation for your team members in some way every day. By investing time and energy into the self-esteem, confidence, and sense of value that your employees have day to day, everyone benefits from this healthy dynamic of mutual respect and gratitude. Better employee retention, higher performance, improved productivity, and increased employee engagement within the workplace are all-natural by-products of regularly showing how valued each person is. While gift cards, ice cream, and other tangible rewards are a great way of showing employees appreciation, below, you’ll find some simple but highly effective employee appreciation ideas that add value to your team members' daily lives and enhance your company culture. 1. Provide a Comfortable Working Environment Physical comfort is a basic need for any worker. But going a little bit above and beyond can demonstrate your desire to make their day as comfortable and stress-free as possible. Invest in ergonomic chairs, add some indoor plants, and make sure the office is always looking clean and inviting. Maintain great care of the spaces your employees occupy, as it shows continued effort on the company’s part to make their days as pleasant as possible. If employees work remotely, ensure that they have the tools they need to get the job done. Working from home is already fraught with additional challenges. Ensuring your employees have a comfortable set-up with the right tools and equipment can reduce stress and improve morale. 2. Regularly Ask for Employee Feedback Many times, management is clueless about how to really please employees. But there’s a simple solution: asking. Holding feedback sessions, creating a “suggestions” box, and sending out feedback surveys can help bosses stay in the loop about what kinds of rewards and expressions of gratitude are appreciated most. You can also use one of the SurveyMonkey alternatives, as long as your survey is simple and easy to fill by your employees. By making sure that employees from every level are provided with the space to speak up about new ideas or issues that concern them, you can hear directly from them how they’d like to be treated and what changes they might like to see in the future. It also provides an opportunity for managers to pick up on any bullying, harassment, mismanagement or otherwise that may be happening behind the scenes. 3. Celebrate Birthdays and Work Anniversaries Creating a birthday tradition in the workplace gives employees something extra to look forward to once a year. Plus, it provides everyone with a wonderful excuse to get away from their desks and enjoy a slice of cake! Keep a birthday calendar in a communal space to help employees get to know each other better and give everyone an annual opportunity to feel celebrated. You can do the same thing with work anniversaries or other life events. 4. Provide Mental Health Days Most organizations offer sick days and personal days, but few provide days off for mental health. These days are particularly beneficial to those suffering from anxiety, depression, or even high stress. However, they’re also good for when employees feel burned out or in need of a short break to prevent serious mental health issues. Just like sick days, you can offer mental health days in a limited yearly supply, with the option to extend them if a serious issue arises. Giving your employees time to nurture their mental health shows that you care about them as a person and not just for what they can do for the company. 5. Be Flexible With Paid Time Off Giving your staff members paid time off is a great way to show appreciation. You can award them additional vacation days that they can use at their leisure or dole out a few hours at a time with late starts, long lunches, and early quitting time. This gives them more time to spend with their family or do something else that they enjoy. 6. Cater Lunch or Provide Snacks Employers can show appreciation through various food-related gestures that cater to the tastes and preferences of their employees. Here are some ways to incorporate food as a form of appreciation: Employers can arrange for catered lunches to be brought into the office from popular local restaurants or specialized catering services that offer a variety of cuisines. Arranging for food trucks to visit the office provides a unique and enjoyable experience. Set up a well-stocked snack bar with a variety of healthy and indulgent options like fresh fruit, nuts, yogurt, chips, chocolates, and soft drinks. Providing breakfast treats such as bagels, pastries, or a smoothie bar on certain days of the week can be a delightful way to start the day. 7. Make Celebrating Achievements the Norm As previously stated, showing employee appreciation isn’t just about one day; it’s about creating a culture of appreciation. Give positive feedback when your employees accomplish a small task or a big project. This feedback can be in the form of an e-mail or by stopping at their desk. Everyone has different comfort levels, so get to know your employees and what form of communication they are most comfortable with. Or send out a company-wide email acknowledging your employee's hard work, recent success on a specific project, or anything similar. Other co-workers will most likely respond to the email, adding other congratulations and resulting in an even bigger act of gratitude. One way you can implement this is by sharing your employee of the month through email. They will love the praise and be happier knowing you want to share their successes with the whole company. Setting up an employee recognition program is another way to give everyone the opportunity to be recognized, and it helps promote productivity in the workplace. 8. Speak Out Against Discrimination Having a company culture that refuses to tolerate any form of discrimination and aims to be as inclusive as possible is essential. However, taking measures to frequently discuss what that means will improve the employee experience and everyone’s sense of safety and empathy. No employee should be made to feel uncomfortable or discriminated against by any person or policy within (or outside of) the working environment. Show your appreciation for employees belonging to a minority or often discriminated groups. Make it easy for them to bring up concerns and normalize zero-tolerance for bias, bigotry, and discrimination of any kind. 9. Offer Career Advancement Upskilling is one of the most desirable factors in employment positions. Now, more than ever, employees want to know that there is room for them to grow and expand their careers. Offering career development programs is one great way to give them exactly that. The rapidly changing world of today means that constant reskilling and retraining exercises are necessary for certain employment roles to stay relevant. Implementing an upskilling program is one of the most useful, valuable, and future-oriented gifts a company can give its employees. 10. Give Career-Based Incentives One of the most practical ways to show your appreciation for employees is to give them rewards based on facilitating their current job. A bigger working space, a private working space, and mentorship are all highly valued rewards by strategic employees. Using job-based rewards as incentives for high performance shows that your company is ready and willing to compensate for hard work with realistic opportunities for individual career advancement. 11. Establish an Employee Recognition Program A great way to show appreciation is to set up an employee recognition program. Appreciation through awards is a reminder of their excellent work. Awards can range in cost depending on the company, but we have a list of ideas for employee appreciation awards to get you started. Another slightly more involved way is to use gamification to show your appreciation. For instance, you can have each team member claim a task. For each task completed, your team members will receive points associated with the value of their completed tasks. You can then allow employees to redeem their points using a corporate rewards portal. In the portal, you can offer anything from vacation days, to work-from-home days, or even scholarships for continuing education. 12. Offer Gym Memberships Employers can demonstrate commitment to their employees' well-being by offering free or discounted gym memberships, or by investing in an on-site company gym. These perks offer a convenient way for them to relieve stress, improve physical health, and boost mental clarity, all of which can enhance productivity and job satisfaction. For companies opting to build an in-house gym, it can encourage a healthy work-life balance, foster greater team bonding as colleagues may work out together, and ultimately, reflect the company's investment in its employees' long-term health and happiness. 13. Get Social Your company’s social media pages are an excellent place to share some good news. You can use your social media channels to recognize employees on special days, such as their anniversaries or birthdays. You could also post a photo along with a blurb highlighting an employee’s contribution to your company. You could also list fun and interesting facts about them that their current workers may not know. Or, you could write a glowing LinkedIn recommendation for a star staff member. This kind of recommendation can help them find success in their current role—and in the future. The Final Word: Always Be Authentic However your company chooses to celebrate achievements, express its appreciation, and reward employees, the most important thing is that it’s done with authenticity. People can pick up on forced or disingenuous gratitude far more easily than you’d think. That kind of expression is only going to cause a wave of eye-rolling and resentment within the workplace. Neither of which are good for the employees nor the company side they work for. Try Workmates Interactive Demo Click through it yourself withinteractive demo. Try It Now About the AuthorThis 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!
How to choose the right Agile value metrics
Nearly every business leader these days is focused on achieving value—and for good reason. Business leaders are accountable for ensuring all the work they do delivers the most value possible to the business. Some have adopted Agile methodologies to achieve this.For Agile methodologies to be effective, you need to measure the right things. And to measure the right things, you need the right data producing the right information to provide you with the right insights. Agile value metrics can help.Traditional Agile metrics such as customer engagement, burndown charts (which show the amount of work remaining on a project), and velocity (units of work completed in a given time frame) may seem naturally value-oriented for several reasons.Customer engagement can imply that solutions meet customers’ wants and needs. Burndown charts and velocity indicate value is being delivered consistently and at a reasonable pace. However, these factors aren’t enough to indicate true value.Limitations of intuitive value measurementsValue metrics around discretionary investments are changing. Anyone managing Agile projects must adapt as well and use the most relevant Agile value metrics.If an Agile team is delivering a customer-facing product or service, value ultimately comes from sales of that product or service. But that’s not the best measure, as it can take a long time—years, in some cases—to determine that value. Similarly, internal customer satisfaction doesn’t translate directly to dollars and unit sales.For internal customers, value comes from cost reductions, performance increases, reduced failure rates, and so on. However, those take time to identify and quantify. Users simply saying they like a product isn’t enough. Business leaders must use metrics that are accessible and point to value delivery.3 metrics that indicate value deliveryOther Agile value metrics can yield relevant data quickly. They include: Newness percentage Prioritization stability Adoption and usage rates Newness percentage measures how much of the team’s work is on new features versus changes, updates, fixes, or removal of existing functionality. The greater the focus on newness, the greater the chance value is being delivered.Consider also prioritization stability. If the prioritized backlog of features never changes, it might suggest no one cares about the product and the value is low. On the other hand, if the prioritization changes constantly, it may indicate a lack of understanding of what customers and users value. Either extreme is undesirable.Don’t ignore adoption and usage rates— both Day One rates and the sustainability of those rates. Subjective measures such as surveys can also be important tools.Find out how LIKE.TG Strategic Portfolio Management helps deliver value. Listen to our podcast for more information.
How to Create a Knowledge Base in 7 Easy Steps
Customers often look through a company’s online self-service tool first when they seek solutions to their issues or questions.Given that 92% of clients claim they would utilize a knowledge base if it were available, top-tier knowledge base undeniably lays the groundwork for successful self-service strategies.It is, therefore, important for a company to create a knowledge base that will provide these customers with the necessary answers and solutions.In this blog, we’ll discuss the main steps for creating informative articles that will best serve customers and the support team. In addition, you’ll learn the elements to include in your self-service platform as well as the importance of having an effective tool for self-service purposes. What is a knowledge base?A knowledge base is defined as a self-help tool comprising helpful information about the products and services offered by a company. This information is stored in one central repository and helps customers resolve issues on their own. An internal knowledge repository is a reference point for the customer service team on additional information regarding a company or its brands.Businesses mainly build a knowledge base as an online resource center for customers and support teams to have easy access to useful information on company products and services.Main elements to consider in your knowledge baseWhen you build a knowledge base, consider including the following main elements for optimum results.Frequently asked questions pageHow can you relieve your support team of giving repetitive answers to different clients with the same question? With a frequently asked questions (FAQs) section, your clients can get answers to common questions without contacting your team.When clients have a question or need clarity on an issue, they visit the FAQs section first for fast answers. They only contact your support agents if the answer they seek has not been addressed in this section. This FAQs section reduces tickets and allows agents to focus on more complex issues.Company support team contact optionsWhenever clients are unable to resolve issues on their own, they will need to reach out to the support team for assistance. This is where the Contact Support option comes in. It is vital to include it in all your articles or content to make it easy for clients to contact your support team.This option gives clients a personalized customer service experience. In addition, it reduces the resolution time. It also increases customer satisfaction due to the ease of access.Search text box optionOptimize your knowledge base with an instant search function to make it easy for your customers to search through the information with keywords. Imagine how fast it will be for clients to get answers if they use this easy navigation tool. It saves them time and effort.How-to videosWhen you create a knowledge base, include videos through online video editor where possible. Videos demonstrate practically how different features of a product function and give directions on the right way to use them.For instance, here is a sample knowledge base article that includes a how-to video.These demos make it easy for clients to use the products without contacting the support team for help.Benefits of building a knowledge baseHaving an effective self-service tool that provides helpful information to your customers is very important.The following are the benefits that you can reap when you create a knowledge base:Improved productivityProviding a central information repository makes it easy for agents to access solutions. Knowledge base features such as search and auto-suggest make the hunt for information fast and easy.Also, building a knowledge base empowers clients to resolve issues on their own, allowing agents to focus their efforts on more urgent tasks.Preserves the knowledge of the organizationA well-documented knowledge base allows businesses to retain valuable information even when an experienced employee leaves.Promotes collaboration among staffA knowledge resource promotes collaboration by enabling staff members from various departments to contribute and update information as required.It encourages teamwork and facilitates problem-solving as colleagues work together to identify and document effective solutions.Seamless knowledge transfer to new staffAnother advantage you get when you create a knowledge base, you help bridge knowledge gaps by providing new employees with reliable guidance, thereby eliminating the need for constant consultation with senior employees.Helps deliver more consistent customer supportRegardless of an agent’s level of experience, a knowledge base can serve as a reliable support source, contributing to a consistently exceptional customer experience.Provides users with 24/7 access to useful informationAnother advantage you enjoy when you create a knowledge base is providing users with round-the-clock, location-independent access to resources and solutions. This allows them to find answers to common problems even when support agents aren’t available.Simultaneously, this knowledge base equips agents with all the necessary resources and information, enabling them to operate from anywhere and at any time.How to create a knowledge base effectivelyA study by IBM reported that companies with a well-established knowledge base are 3 times more likely to innovate and grow rapidly than those without. Thus, it is important to carefully create a knowledge base for it to be effective.Let’s explore the best practices you should consider when you build a knowledge base:1. Define the purpose of your knowledge baseDo you want an effective knowledge base? First, and most importantly, define your purpose! How can you know what to include in your knowledge base if you don’t even know why you need it?With that said, it is important to set clear goals before you start to create a knowledge base. Important details like the audience you aim to reach with your knowledge base will determine what to cover.Purpose of different types of knowledge base:Internal knowledge bases include documents not meant for the public’s eyes as well as unedited technical information that may be difficult for a general audience to understand.On the other hand, an external KB could contain solutions for current customers or more general information for potential customers.With a clear purpose, your team will have a seamless process when they build a knowledge base and publish it.2. Prepare the design and structureDeciding on the right design and structure to best present your content for your audience is an important step. The information should be organized in a simple manner that end users can easily find. Separate your content into categories and further subcategorize based on the different data types and purposes. Think out your internal links. This makes navigation easier.In addition, the design you decide on should be relevant and easy to use. Clients should find the chosen structure and design to be user-friendly. As a result, it will allow them to have easy and fast access to the information they need.3. Choose the topics or content to coverWhich topics should you cover, and in what order? To know the right topics to cover:Identify popular and trending topicsFirstly, check the trends on the most searched topics on your website or on the Google Analytics tool. With this analytics tool, you can get insight into the most searched and trending topics in your field. You can have an overview of which keywords most people are searching for. This will help you choose more general topics to include in your self-service portal.Track common ticket issuesSecondly, go through your ticket history list and check for the common issues that need to be addressed.Involve support teamLastly, you can ask the support team for the most recurring customer issues and questions that can be resolved or answered using articles.The most common issues give you an insight into the topics that you should cover first when creating knowledge base articles. For instance, if tickets on password resetting are the most common, consider writing an article called “How to reset your password” to address that issue.Remember, it is ideal to start with the basic information, followed by how-tos from the start-up process, and finally fixes to specific issues. This will ensure you cover all the important and essential content.4. Provide simple content to reach all audiencesMake sure the content you write for an external knowledge base is relevant and comprehensible for any type of audience, knowledgeable or not. Explain to them in the simplest language possible. Avoid jargon. Make them understand the entire content very well for the information relayed to be useful to them.From the title you choose to the introduction and, finally, the topics and subtopics, make them very simple and logical. Give your readers an easy time reading through articles and understanding the information they contain.Where possible, add links to related articles to the content being written to give readers more information on the current topic of discussion.5. Include visuals when creating knowledge base contentWhat can you do to make your content more audience-friendly? Consider adding attractive visuals such as images, business videos, GIFs, and graphs or charts where they’d be good complements to your text.Take screenshots of related pages from the company website and include them in the article you create for clarity. Such visuals make customers understand the information better and increase their engagement with your knowledge base page. Additionally, makes your content more attractive.6. Make your content SEO optimizedHow can people find your knowledge base articles online and discover your brand or company?Optimize your self-service repositoryFirst, optimize your knowledge base to make it easy for interested users to find your articles on your website.Index your knowledge baseSecond, index your self-service portal using the right search engine optimization (SEO) tools. This will make your articles visible to any internet users browsing in popular search engines like Google.Use keywordsThird, ensure you include keywords for each article. Any internet users looking for information on topics like the ones you have published should find your article in the list.Add the knowledge base linkLastly, make sure to add your self-service portal’s link to any platform you get an opportunity to. The more places you include your link, the higher the audience reached. This is a great marketing strategy for your brands. A great informative article can be all that a potential client needs to get on board and do business with your company.7. Evaluate, maintain, and regularly improve your articlesGauge how your articles perform by analysis of the client’s feedback and clicks. Check data reports to see the number of users who read them. Gain insight into what users think of the content. Was the information provided of any use to them? This insight will help you know what your clients need and, thus, the topics to cover.With every new improvement made in your products, ensure you update the articles in your self-service tool as well. The content should always be current. This will ensure the information stays relevant to the end users.Take the first step in creating your knowledge base!Follow the guidelines in this blog to create a knowledge base that is relevant and informative for self-service purposes. With your knowledge base, provide your audience with relevant and helpful information and improve their satisfaction with your company.LIKE.TG provides an effective customizable knowledge base software for your clients and support team. Contact us to schedule a 30-minute live demo to experience the best tool for your support team and customers. You can also begin a 15-day free trial to discover how LIKE.TG’s features can be customized to meet your business’s needs.Recommended reads3 Simple Knowledge Base Article Templates7 Essential Knowledge Base Metrics for Enhancing Self-Service
How To Create A Positive Employee Experience (In The Digital Age)
The revolution in the workplace brought on by new technologies has created a raft of new digital jobs. Corporate culture has changed as a result. Novel approaches to work communication and employee engagement are now needed. There are many innovative tools that can be used in the workplace to create a positive employee experience. Improving employee experience doesn'tneed to be difficult - or expensive! Learn how The Digital Age In the digital age, the whole economy is based around IT. The fast flow of information provided by new technologies enables the entire society to function. The digital revolution has changed every facet of the human experience. The workplace, especially, has been changed forever. The COVID-19 pandemic undeniably sped up technological transformations in the workplace. With people unable to interact at work, many remote and digital jobs were created. This changes everything about the way that people work. Work culture and work organization are going to be hugely influenced by these changes. This means that companies need to find new ways of ensuring employee satisfaction and creating social ties within work teams. This is essential for retaining staff. If an employee is working remotely and feels completely detached from their team, they are much more likely to leave a company. Dialogue With Employees There is a saying among HR experts that goes, “There is no golden rule for every business”. For a company to create a tailor-made solution, it must study the problem carefully. Only constant communication with employees will allow management to keep track of what is happening. Everybody in the digital age is dealing with feelings of constant change and uncertainty. For effective communication, two-way dialogue is essential. Engaging Employees In The Digital Age There are a number of factors that will help you to engage employees. Give Regular Feedback One of the most basic tools for creating two-way dialogue is creating a culture of feedback. This is a way of rewarding positive work behaviors and letting people know where they can improve. Giving feedback can help to create a sense of safety at work. It will help employees to feel appreciated and will increase their job satisfaction. Engaging in regular conversations with employees can help to activate and motivate them. Creating a culture of feedback will make people feel that they are allowed to express opinions openly. Team members will be more likely to share how much they are enjoying work or that they are struggling and need some assistance. Carry Out An Employee Satisfaction Survey This can end up being a big project due to the large number of research areas and the potential volume of the data that is obtained. If the survey is conducted well, it can provide a ton of information on key areas that may need to be examined. You can learn about the levels of cooperation, communication, team morale, work atmosphere, organizational issues, professional development, work satisfaction, and employee relations with their superiors. This is only going to be effective if management is actually willing to listen to the employee feedback and make the appropriate changes. This will help employees to feel like they are actually an influence within their company. They are then likely to feel more attached and loyal. Work On Staff Development There are many different approaches to staff development. This can include building a clear career path within the company, mentoring and coaching programs, and planning ways for upskilling and development. These tools obviously need to be adapted according to the size of the company, the capabilities of team members, and the company goals. Learning and development can be key to helping employees feel motivated at work. It helps people to have a sense of meaning. Build Remote Integration Building a team that is going to be loyal, committed, hardworking, and ready to make sacrifices requires building friendships at work. Companies need to realize the utmost importance of building relationships. Let’s look at some ways to achieve this in the digital age. 4. Mutual trust The efficiency and success of any company are built on the mutual trust of the process participants. The company wants to trust its employees, from top management to line staff. Employees, in turn, want to trust management at all levels and, most importantly, each other. People spend a lot of time, effort, and emotions defending their positions and decisions. Team members solve a collective problem every day, and there is a constant mutual intersection. Without trust, employees begin to control and double-check each other's work. There is an unhealthy industrial atmosphere, sometimes open hostility. There is no productive communication. As a result, the desire to do their job disappears, motivation drops, and, ultimately, the staff either ceases to be responsible for their duties or simply quits. Collaboration in a team with trusting relationships is built quite differently. People are focused on personal matters, as there are no distractions. Warm, friendly relations are established in the team. High-quality communication develops into active cooperation and partnership. As a result, the team works cohesively and creatively and is aimed at a common result. Tools To Increase Employee Engagement Digitization may be a threat to the more social aspects of work culture. However, there are a number of tools that can help employees to interact and build relationships. Employee Experience Platforms Platforms such as LIKE.TG can be used to show appreciation for employees' hard work. This kind of employee engagement software can be used to engage individuals and whole teams. These platforms can be used in every stage of the employee lifecycle. This includes onboarding, career advancement, and staff retention. These platforms are designed to provide a positive employee experience and drive business results. Learning Management Systems These are applications that can help to support employee development and remote work. These apps can manage training courses, track the skill progression of team members, and identify any areas that may need improvement. Benefit Systems This can include cafeteria systems where employees can get lunch without leaving work, possibly paid for by the company. Investing in employee development and increasing their skill set is another benefit system. There could also be systems in place for car-sharing, sharing parking spaces, or ordering lunch to work. The Employee Lifecycle Let’s take a look at different stages of the employee lifecycle and how they can be supported to have a positive experience. The Onboarding Process Onboarding gives companies the chance to form deep and long-lasting relationships with employees from day one. A successful onboarding strategy will help new team members to feel engaged and motivated. The focus should be primarily on the experience of the employee. In the digital age, technology can be used to help new employees to connect with their peers. Technology can be used to outline objectives and to give and receive feedback. Platforms such as LIKE.TG will help new employees to become immersed in the company culture and positively interact with all of their new team members. Career Development Today there are many technological solutions that will help to measure employee progress and plan their development. These digital feedback solutions allow for the creation of a culture of constant feedback. These solutions can help to create continuous improvement in the workplace. Digital solutions can generate relevant data so that companies can clearly see and understand how each employee is engaging with the company. This data can be used to create a positive employee experience. The Learning Experience In the digital age, learning has been revolutionized. There are many interactive resources and AI systems that make it much easier to give a more personalized learning experience. In the digital age, employees can take an active role in their own learning. Constant digital transformation means that employees need to be able to “relearn” quickly. We are immersed in a world that is rapidly changing. New technologies are emerging all the time. Choosing what to learn is essential. In Summary In the digital age, the whole economy is based on IT. The world is changing at a rapid rate. Many people are now working remotely. It is essential to create a two-way dialogue with employees. This can be achieved by giving regular feedback, carrying out satisfaction surveys, working on staff development, and building remote integration. There are a number of tools that can help to increase employee engagement and create a positive experience. This includes employee experience platforms, learning management systems, and benefits systems. Technology can be utilized to ensure that employees have a positive onboarding process, that their career development progresses smoothly, and that they have a personalized learning experience. 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!
How to Create Customer Service Policies Effectively
Every company wants devoted customers who will always support their brand. Part of inspiring that devotion is building effective customer service policies that meet clients’ expectations, implementing good practices and procedures.You can manage your interactions with customers and settle disputes effectively if you clearly understand customer service rules and how to create them.In this blog, we will discuss everything you need to know about customer service policies. What are customer service policies?Customer service policies are a set of guidelines and principles established by a company to ensure that its employees consistently deliver high-quality customer support.It outlines the company’s approach to handling customer inquiries and complaints, and it provides a uniform procedure for support representatives to follow when interacting with customers.What should you include in your customer service policy?The proper approach to customer service issues and the attitude with which to handle your customers varies from one company to the next, depending on the clients and nature of your relationship with them.However, there are some guidelines that can serve as a broad baseline. The following are the main components of a consumer service policy.Customer service mission and vision statementClearly define your company’s mission and vision, and how your customer service should align with these values. This will set the tone for your policy.Product and service descriptionProvide clear, updated descriptions of what your customers can expect from your company’s products, services, and customer support team.Customer support team standardsThe company should outline the duties and responsibilities of each employee in various departments. The standard of professionalism should be considered.Support agents should know how to relate and interact with each other and with clients.The company can always make adjustments later to improve their customer support.Communication guidelinesThe company needs to outline the expectations for communication with customers, including the channels available (phone, email, chat, and social media) and any necessary escalation procedures.Rules on team collaborationThe collaboration among agents across different departments should be defined. There should be a clear hierarchy for escalation.Both primary and secondary contacts should be listed for departments the support team may have to contact.If particular types of issues need to be seen by particular people or sub-teams, that needs to be clear.Customer service promisesBuild a strong relationship of trust with your customers and be transparent about the products and services you deliver. With this, you can boost customer satisfaction.How do you develop customer service policies?Building an effective customer service policy requires an entire process from before the policy is created, to after it has been implemented. You can create your customer service policy using the strategies outlined.1. Create and implement the company’s vision and mission statementsWhen drafting a customer service policy, it is important for a company to identify and consider its core values as well as define the long-term objectives that it hopes or aspires to achieve with its customer service. These include:Company vision: Defines the goals that a company intends or hopes to achieve in the long run.Company mission: It should clearly state the key values for which a company stands.All company employees should know the company’s vision and mission. They should be included in the policy and kept in mind during its creation.They’ll set the tone for the customer service standards and expectations.2. Identify and understand your customers’ needs and preferencesAccording to Salesforce, 66% of clients expect companies to understand their needs and fulfil their expectations.Knowing what works for your target clientele helps determine how to serve them. You can consider clients’ behavior, demographics, and industry feedback.You can also directly research what your customers prefer or need from your customer service. Ask your support team for input. Ask your customers through community forums or sending them surveys.Using analytical insights to determine factors humans may not think to articulate. Use the findings to tailor your support policies to suit their requirements.3. Define achievable goals and benchmarksWhen developing customer service policies, ask yourself if the goals you are setting can be achieved. How realistic are they? Do they meet the expected standards?Set goals on important aspects such as resolution speed, communication channels to use, follow-up strategies, customer retention, complaint resolution.Identify ways to balance speed and quality of service. For example, utilize canned responses for the quick reply. Find ways to resolve issues on time, all while maintaining good customer relationships.Consider creating varying rules for different situations in order to achieve the best end results.4. Create an employee code of conductThe customer service team acts as the face of a company. They are in direct contact with the customers.It is therefore important to have effective customer service guidelines to define how they should act in different situations.Clearly outline how the employees should carry themselves professionally, how they should interact with customers, handle different situations, conflict resolution procedures, and when training should occur on these policies.5. Create and implement customer feedback loopsCollecting the customers’ input through real-time reviews, comments, or complaints about your customer service will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses.Forbes statistics show that businesses that prioritize their clients’ experience are 66% more successful than those that don’t.Asking for clients’ feedback regularly will help in refining and improving the customer support policies and procedures over time, thus best serving your clients.6. Promote the policy to employees and customersCommunicate with employees and customers alike on any newly implemented or updated policies. This encourages policy adoption.You can enlighten them through conducting meetings with employees or sending notifications to clients that include links to the policy.Informing them ensures that everyone is aware of the updates and that they consent to the policy being passed.7. Train and empower your employeesIt is important for team members to have a clear understanding of the policies in place. You can consider the following options to empower them with the right skills to properly carry out your policies:Hold policy-training programs and workshops to discuss the guidelines in depth.Include the policies in the internal knowledge base for reference.Additionally, you can also give them acknowledgement or rewards for good performance and handling difficult situations well, using them as teaching opportunities.8. Strive to continuously improve customer service policiesAs your company and technology keep evolving, customer expectations change, new situations arise, and your support team grows or shrinks, the policies in place should adjust accordingly.Update the policies alongside the changes witnessed in the business. This will ensure your support team always knows what to do, and clients are guaranteed good experiences.Why are customer service policies important?It is important that employees and customers clearly align in their expectations regarding good customer service for the following reasons.Inspires confidence and improves productivityGiving your staff members specific standards, guidelines, and courses of action in scenarios they are likely to encounter gives them confidence. They feel prepared and approach their work with more certainty, a certainty that comes across in their interactions with customers, relaxing them.With less time spent on customer complaints and hesitation over procedure, agents are also more productive.Keeps all support representatives on the same pageThe internal team collaboration guidelines and the customer service workflow policies help ensure that all agents stay on the same page when it comes to offering support.They have clear ideas on what to do or steps to follow when different types of issues arise.Provides consistent supportCustomers can expect the same high level of assistance and service, regardless of how they reach out for help or with which representative they interact.Assists you in delivering enhanced customer serviceAn ideal customer support policy includes how the support team can effectively handle different types of issues, be it common issues, complex issues, or a new type of issue.Having customer service policies and procedures with clear stipulations also ensures customers know the exact kind and standard of service to expect.When customers have clear expectations of communication and support capabilities, they are less likely to be upset by perceived slights.Improves client satisfactionSuccessful customer service policies ensure that clients’ managed expectations lead to higher levels of satisfaction.Satisfied clients will recommend your brand to other potential consumers and return for further purchases themselves.Customer service policy examplesThe following are common examples of customer support policies that different businesses can apply to ensure they provide the best customer service:Privacy and cookie policy: This clearly states the type of information a company collects and what they will use it for. It protects the privacy of information for all involved parties.Return and refund policy: This outlines the terms and conditions or requirements needed to accept returns and follow through with refunds.Security policy: These are measures that companies take to protect users’ data against unlawful access and use by unauthorized personnel, accidental loss and destruction of data, etc.Ethics policy: This covers the standards of ethical and behavioral conduct to be adhered to by employees, business vendors, and the overall company.Terms of use: Stipulates the rights and restrictions of using and accessing the services or products.These policies vary based on client base, business goals, and type of market.Customer Service Policy TemplateCustomer Service Policy TemplateOur Mission [Provide Company’s Mission Statement]Example: At [Company Name], our mission is to deliver unparalleled customer service that goes above and beyond expectations, fostering lasting connections with every interaction.Our Vision [Provide Company’s Vision Statement]Example: Our vision is to become the premier destination for our customers’ needs, creating enriching and gratifying experiences at every touchpoint.Our Commitment: We at [Company Name] are committed to providing exceptional customer service to our valued customers. We strive to ensure every customer interaction is positive and professional.Scope: This customer service policy is applicable to all team members at [Company Name], governing interactions with customers across all channels, whether face-to-face, over the phone, or online.GuidelinesMaintain a friendly and professional tone, employing suitable language and body language, and keeping a positive attitude consistently.Strive to respond to all customer inquiries within one business day and resolve complaints promptly to ensure customer satisfaction.Utilize active listening skills to comprehend customers’ needs and concerns thoroughly. Pay attention, ask clarifying questions, and summarize to ensure a good understanding.Offer assistance and solutions. Endeavor to offer assistance and resolve customer issues to the best of your ability, exploring all avenues to find suitable solutions.In cases where resolution proves challenging, escalate the matter to a higher level of support for more expert assistance.Treat all customers with respect and dignity, irrespective of their demeanor. Recognize that customers may express frustration or dissatisfaction and maintain composure and patience throughout interactions.Safeguard the confidentiality of customer information by implementing appropriate measures to protect sensitive data, adhering to all relevant privacy and security protocols.Always try to find ways to enhance the customer experience. Welcome and actively solicit feedback from customers on areas where you could improvement and implement initiatives to elevate service delivery continually. We firmly believe that by adhering to these guidelines, we can fulfill our mission and vision of delivering exceptional customer service experiences that exceed expectations and cultivate enduring relationships with our valued customers.Final thoughts on customer service policiesEstablishing customer service policies and procedures is an easy method to ensure that your company upholds a consistently elevated level of service. Your customer service policy should include guidelines and procedures based on your company’s objectives and provide specific suggestions for how to get there.The correct tools will make it simpler to adhere to the commitments stated in your customer service policy.Schedule a live demo to discover how LIKE.TG can help improve your business by implementing favorable client service policies for your employees. Start a free trial to experience its many capabilities. Feel free to contact LIKE.TG support if you have any questions concerning customer support.
How to Create Internal Comms Campaigns
Studies show that 86% of employees and company executives say that lack of collaboration or ineffective communication is responsible for workplace failure. Learning to improve internal comms in the workplace is necessary to improve your business. Do you want to learn more about creating an internal comms campaign? Keep reading this guide for the top things you need to include in your internal communication plan as a campaigns manager. Understand Your Baseline The first thing you need to do for an internal communications campaign is to measure your current internal communication. You need to understand your baseline so you can see what is working for your business and where you can improve during your campaign. One of the easiest ways you can track your baseline is with different types of analytics. For example, you can monitor interactions with your messages. This includes email open rate, click-through rate, and more. You can also conduct employee focus groups. This way, you can hear directly from your target audience and see what works best for them. Having this information will help you guide many other decisions throughout your campaign and will ensure that it is successful. Plan Your Timeline Next, you must have a timeline for your campaign. While it can be difficult to schedule out every part of your internal communication, having a structured campaign with a set timeline can help you maximize your effectiveness. For example, your business may want your employees to start using a new platform for messaging. On the first day of your campaign, you can send out an informational video that explains how employees can use the new platform. On the next day of your campaign, you can send out a notification that reminds employees to set up their accounts and connect with the company's profile. Having these details scheduled will ensure that everything is done on time! It will also help you keep employees on track. Set Goals and Objectives Having goals and internal comms campaign objectives is essential, as it will make it easier to track the success of your strategies at the end of your campaign. There are many types of goals that you can set. For example, you may want to set a goal to drive up your employee engagement. You want this to be a SMART goal, so you may want to track how many employees open or respond to your messages within a certain time period. Identify Your Target Audience Identifying your target audience is one of the most important things you can do to improve your internal communications campaigns. Who will be the recipient of your messaging? This will affect the types of channels you use, the way you phrase your message, and more. While many of your messages may be sent to the entire company, you may also have internal comms campaigns that are specific to certain teams within the company. Understanding your target audience will also help you tailor your content to your audience. This way, your content will be more likely to match their needs and they will be more engaged with your messages. Use Multiple Channels Next, it is important that you choose the right internal communication tools to make your messaging even more effective. It is important that you use many different communication channels to maximize the effectiveness of your internal communications campaign. You can send out different types of content to different channels. For example, you may use a messaging platform with customizable group channels. These types of channels make it easy to send your messages to the right group within your company. This way, you can send messages to different teams that are all focused on the same goals and objectives. You may also want to use another channel, like emails, when you have an important announcement that requires more than just a few lines to explain. You can even use your company's social media for your communications channels! Using multiple channels will help you keep your employees engaged with your messaging, as it will help you avoid sending messages to people that don't need the information. Instead, your employees will only receive information that is essential to their position. Plus, using multiple channels will help you reach every user, no matter what channels they engage with most frequently. Create the Right Messaging When you are creating content for your internal communication plan, it is essential that you choose the right messaging! You need to make it creative and engaging for employees. If your content doesn't capture your reader's attention, you will lose their interest very quickly. One way you can make your content engaging is with its' heading. Make sure it is appealing ot the reader and makes them want to continue reading the content! You can also use visual elements to make your content more interesting. Things like images, videos, and graphs can capture the attention of your audience. Plus, they will keep them engaged the entire time they are looking at your content. There is a plenty of tools that could help you with it. You also need to tailor your content to your target audience. Different groups within your company may need different styles of messaging. Make sure your tone matches your messaging and addresses your audience in the most effective way. Make Your Content Relatable Not only does your content need to be engaging, but it also needs to be relatable. For example, you should make sure all of your messaging prioritizes diversity and inclusion. This way your employees will be able to recognize themselves in your messaging and will feel more connected to what you are saying. You also need to ensure that your communication is easy to understand. If you are sharing complex information, make the messages easy to digest. Employees are given new information all day long. If your messages are confusing and difficult to understand, they will be less likely to engage with them. Schedule Your Internal Communications Timing is one of the most important factors to consider for internal communication. If you send out a message at the wrong time, it can significantly affect your engagement with the message. For example, if you are sending out a company announcement, you need to make sure it comes out at exactly the right time. You may find that sending out content on a Friday afternoon will result in much lower engagement than sending the same message on a Monday morning. Because of this, you need to think about the messages that you are sending and when they would get the best engagement. Using software to schedule your internal communications will ensure that your messages are always sent at exactly the right time and are as effective as possible. Include Calls to Action Internal communications campaigns need to encourage your target audience to act. This is one of the most important elements of a successful campaign. If you don't include calls to action in your campaign, your target audience won't know what you want them to do with the information you have provided. For example, you may want your messages to encourage employee advocacy. If your employees love working at your company, they can promote your brand for you and provide your business with high-quality new hires. Including a call-to-action to share open positions with friends can encourage your employees to act on your messages. Track Success Finally, you must learn to track the success of your campaign. This is the most important part of your internal communications campaign, as it will tell you what was most effective when it comes to communicating with your company. If you need to create another internal communications campaign in the future, you can use this data to make changes and improvements to your next campaign. What worked best in your internal communications campaign? What did employees respond to and engage with the most? What did not perform as well as you thought it would? Measuring and understanding the impact of your internal communications will also help you determine if you met the goals that you set at the beginning of the campaign. Need Help Improving as an Internal Comms Campaigns Manager? When you are an internal comms campaign manager, it can be difficult to create an effective campaign for improving employee engagement. By including each of these internal comms campaign elements, you will be able to improve the collaboration between employees in your company. If you need help improving as an internal comms campaigns manager, LIKE.TG can help! We provide a flexible cloud of HR applications that can help you improve your internal communications, employee productivity, and more. Check out our website today to learn more about our tools and to book a free demo. 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!
How to Develop and Sustain Employee Engagement
Organizations have discovered that customer satisfaction makes clients stay, but their employees play a significant role in that cycle. The Human Resource Department can help workers execute their tasks to their fullest potential by providing the necessary tools and resources. In this article, you will learn how to develop and sustain employee engagement in your organization. What is Employee Engagement? According to Forbes, employee engagement defines a staff member’s commitment and zeal to help an organization meet its goals. Highly engaged at work employees are often excited about their work because employees want to feel a sense of purpose. They don’t mind going over and beyond to ensure the business’s success. Engaged employees are productive employees; they have the zeal to learn, serve as good advocates, and positively publicize the organization in their day to day work life. In today's business world, organizations strive to promote employee engagement using inclusiveness in the workplace, employee training, workplace benefits, and lots more. Why is Employee Engagement Important? One primary reason most firms have a Human Resource Department is to look after the needs and welfare of employees to ensure that they are at their best. From boosting productivity to retention rates, here are some reasons why increasing employee engagement is essential to every organization. 1. Improved loyalty A work environment where employees are engaged and feel valued can breed trust and loyalty. When employees are satisfied with how they are treated at the workplace, they won’t bother to look for jobs elsewhere. Also, there will be no cases of sabotage since everyone's focus will be on measuring up and making the organization's vision a success. 2. Mutual respect Employee engagement promotes respect; remember, there is a fine line between fear and respect. When Managers and Heads of Departments show respect for their staff, the workers will return the gesture. They can ask their bosses questions, and nobody will belittle them. When bosses can trust employees to carry out their responsibilities, they will regard them highly. 3. Accountability Engaged employees are concerned with the quality of their service. So they strive to see the measures they can take to boost productivity and promote customer satisfaction. Having a business environment that supports the level of employee engagement can help to breed a company culture of safety where employees can own up to their actions. That way, everyone has a stake in the company's success, and a win for one is a win for all. 4. Reduced absenteeism If employees enjoy their job and workplace culture, they will not be absent from work without good reason. Incessant absenteeism can prove disastrous for a company if the management does not remedy the situation early. Usually, it happens when employees don’t take their work seriously, so they act without considering the repercussions or ripple effects. 5. Reduced stress ratio Sometimes, stress can make employees burn out faster. According to a survey by CareerBuilder, about 31% of respondents report that they are stressed out, negatively affecting their physical and mental health. Imagine a scenario where workers grudgingly dress up for work every morning because they are too tired to be productive. When employees have the right attitude to work, their managers will be surprised at the rapid reduction in stress levels and workplace accidents. Staff will be more focused and dedicate their time to only achieving organizational goals. 6. Higher employee retention rate Non-engaged employees are constantly seeking new opportunities in other organizations. The most toxic organizations have the highest turnover rates. Engaged employees do not bother looking for jobs outside their current work environment. They prefer growing with their companies than seeking job opportunities elsewhere. This is exactly what Brighterly startup did by implementing a personal professional development plan for every employee. This plan was designed individually for employees with their direct managers to make sure that the personal need for development meets company’s expectations and goals. It all resulted in a 21% increase of retention rate. 7. Better management Leaders who wish to motivate their personnel must first establish a relationship with them, so management needs to take time off their busy schedules to interact with employees. This way, there is room for better communication, and the administration can then learn the needs of the staff. When the team knows that the management cares about their concerns, employees will be more willing to put in the extra effort. They will work with management to bring up valuable employee engagement strategies. How to Improve Employee Engagement Managers are keen on sparking their employees' interest in their company’s mission; unfortunately, very few know how to do the entire process. You could start by focusing on the well-being of your employees by fostering healthy communication, encouraging them, and lots more. Here are some employee engagement ideas for your organization. 1. Build trust and confidence For organizations to build trust, managers need to concentrate on what their employees care about most. To show that you care about your employees, emphasize communication, advocate for the well-being of workers, resolve team issues, and attend to the specific requirements of each employee. From there, employees can feel safe in the work environment. 2. Provide an environment to foster personal development Encourage the development of employees by presenting them with new challenges and possibilities for advancement. Your staff should gain new skills to tackle issues in the workplace. Organizations' should make room for study leaves and seminars so that employees can have a conducive environment for personal development. 3. Show appreciation Recognize and reward your best workers, but don't forget about the others. Employees appreciate words of support and encouragement from the management. You can also give them an employee appreciation gift or proper recognition during meetings. By showing appreciation, staff members know that their efforts are appreciated. It can also serve as an example to those who are lagging. So, motivate workers by giving them praise and rewards. 4. Ensure the well-being of your personnel Having a company that values its employee is good for morale. It encourages good management and ensures leaders know their responsibilities. So, give your workers opportunities to enhance their physical, emotional, and financial well-being. Make room for leaves, yearly vacations, maternity leaves, all-expense-paid trips, and other benefits to enable the staff to refuel. You can arrange employee engagement activities by coordinating volunteer opportunities and sports events. 5. Lead by example As a manager, promote a supportive work environment that emphasizes health and happiness. Take regular stress breaks, get away from your desk for a few minutes, or go for a brisk walk to clear your mind and recharge. You can also share your well-being objectives and priorities with your coworkers. Keep in mind that you are just as important as everyone else. 6. Get valuable employee engagement tools and resources Learn to automate routine administrative tasks. Let HR software handle allocating work to employees, generating documentation, and educating new hires about their duties. A well-designed Human Resource program can provide activities tailored to each employee's specific requirements of employees so that everyone will get an equal chance to do well. 7. Train your employees Your employees will stick with your company if they know that they can pursue their career growth and still meet their personal needs. They need training, as formal learning doesn’t stop in childhood. Your employees can also level up their skills and education to make them suitable for higher positions within the company. So, arrange employee training with reputable bodies, and invest in your staff. It’s a profitable long term growth strategy. Conclusion Employees who feel valued and supported will retain the passion that drives them to succeed and avoid burnout in the workplace. When employee productivity is a priority, they will limit frivolities and put more soul into their responsibilities. And as an employer, you will reap the benefits of employee engagement in increased productivity and workplace efficiency. About Author: Employees who feel valued and supported will retain the passion that drives them to succeed and avoid burnout in the workplace. When employee productivity is a priority, they will limit frivolities and put more soul into their responsibilities. And as an employer, you will reap the benefits of employee engagement in increased productivity and workplace efficiency.
How to Effectively Collect and Act on Employee Feedback to Improve the Employee Experience for Retail
In the retail industry, customer experience depends on customer interactions with employees. Consequently, employee experience is a paramount concern for management. So, how can we enrich your employee experience? The answer lies in effectively collecting and leveraging employee feedback. This article will feature the practical and technical aspects of this feedback collection. You’ll learn about the necessary tools and research methodologies. By using the feedback strategies laid out here, you will be well on your way to creating an enhanced retail environment where employees are motivated, customers are satisfied, and your business thrives. 1. Foster a Feedback Culture Before you can collect employee feedback, you must create an environment where people feel like their voices matter. Building an environment where feedback is encouraged means it has to be more than just a one-off survey. Feedback must be normal and seamlessly integrated into your company's culture and daily operations. Encourage your employees to freely share their thoughts, ideas, and areas of concern. This can be achieved by establishing open communication channels, such as weekly team meetings, suggestion boxes, or an online feedback platform. It's crucial that employees feel safe and comfortable giving feedback. This means ensuring there is no fear of retribution or negative consequences for speaking the truth. Encourage honesty and transparency by ensuring anonymity or confidentiality if requested. Building a positive feedback culture is not an overnight task. It requires time, patience, and continuous effort from management and employees. However, management must take the lead. Invest in training focusing on communication, empathy, and constructive feedback to foster a more open and supportive environment. By creating a culture that not only welcomes but also acts on feedback, you're setting the stage for an enhanced retail environment. Always remember, your employees are your first customers. If they're satisfied, your customers will be too. 2. Define Goals and Metrics Collecting employee feedback should always be guided by clearly defined goals and metrics. First, identify what the feedback will be used for—is it to inform changes in company policy, direct HR initiatives, or employee training programs, or perhaps to address different areas? Once your objectives are clear, set up specific, measurable goals. Create metrics to track the progress and effectiveness of your feedback-collecting efforts. Consider these potential metrics: Employee Happiness Index: This metric attempts to measure employee satisfaction within your workplace. It can be obtained through regular surveys, asking employees to rate their happiness on a scale. Ask questions covering diverse areas like work-life balance, relationships with peers and managers, and personal growth opportunities. Retention Rate: A high retention rate is a strong indication of a positive work environment. Tracking this metric over time can help you understand the impact of your initiatives on employee satisfaction and loyalty. Productivity Metrics: Increased productivity is often a positive outcome of an improved employee experience. There are various ways to measure productivity, such as tracking hours worked versus tasks completed or looking at sales figures or customer satisfaction ratings. Once your goals and metrics are finalized, it's crucial to decide on your research methodologies. Will you use surveys, interviews, focus groups, or perhaps a combination of these? Your methodology should align with your goals and the type of data you need to collect, and consider the integration of data integration tools where appropriate. Always remember the ultimate goal of collecting and acting on feedback is to enhance the employee experience. This, in turn, positively impacts customers, leading to a thriving retail business. 3. Choose a Methodology Now that we've firmly established the importance of setting clear goals and selecting appropriate metrics, it's time to dive into the next critical step: choosing a methodology for feedback collection. Different methods cater to different needs, and understanding their strengths and weaknesses is key to picking the most effective approach for your retail business. Let’s dive in. Survey Method Surveys are a popular method for collecting employee feedback due to their efficiency and ease of use. They enable you to collect quantitative data from a large group of employees at once. This may include metrics like job satisfaction, work-life balance, or perspective on company policies. Using online survey tools allows you to distribute surveys easily and anonymize responses. As a result, you’ll encourage honesty among respondents. However, surveys may not capture the depth of an employee's feelings or experiences due to their limiting responses to numbers and scores. Focus Groups Focus groups offer a more interactive way to collect feedback. They allow for open-ended discussions that may reveal deeper insights into employee concerns, attitudes, and perceptions. Participants can react to each other's comments, stimulating ideas that may not have surfaced in an individual context. However, they can be time-consuming and not feasible for larger organizations. It's also crucial to address potential groupthink and ensure a safe space for open dialogue. One-On-One Interviews One-on-one interviews provide an opportunity for personal, in-depth conversations. This method allows for a deeper understanding of individual employee experiences and can help uncover nuanced insights. Interviews can be conducted face-to-face, over the phone, or via video conferencing. They are especially valuable for addressing sensitive topics that employees may not feel comfortable sharing in a group setting. However, they are resource-intensive and may not represent the general workforce. Suggestion Boxes A classic feedback collection method, suggestion boxes allow employees to anonymously submit their ideas, grievances, or concerns. This method can encourage candidness as it ensures anonymity. However, feedback is often limited to what the employee chooses to share and lacks the opportunity for immediate follow-up or clarification. Remember, the choice of methodology should be dictated by your specific goals, the nature of the feedback you're seeking, and the resources available. You can also combine several methods to get a comprehensive understanding of the employee experience. 4. Tools for Collecting Feedback Choosing the right tool for collecting feedback is as important as choosing the right feedback-collecting method. The following are some of the most effective tools to make this process seamless while providing valuable insights. Online Survey Platforms Online survey platforms have become a cornerstone for collecting employee feedback. You can use form tools, but your best option is to use a dedicated platform like Workmates by LIKE.TG. This makes it easy to create and deploy surveys and has robust analysis and reporting features to learn how engaged your retail employees are. Employee Engagement Software While online survey platforms are great, you’re best served by more comprehensive tools. By working with Workmates employee engagement solution, you can not only collect feedback and run surveys but also view results in the context of other work factors. This tool integrates itself into the whole employee lifecycle, from recruitment to productivity to post-employment offboarding. This means that you have a substantial amount of data across the entire employee lifecycle to help you learn more about their concerns and experiences. Suggestion Boxes and Open-Door Policies Traditional methods are still crucial in collecting feedback. A physical or digital suggestion box allows employees to share their thoughts anonymously, encouraging candid feedback. An open-door policy, on the other hand, sends a clear message to your workforce that their opinions are appreciated and valued, fostering a culture of transparency and mutual respect. Remember, the key to successful feedback collection is choosing tools that align with your company's needs and culture. Whether you opt for a state-of-the-art software solution or a traditional approach, the goal is to create an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing their insights and experiences. To learn more about the features and capabilities available in Workmates, download our ebook now. Download now 5. Ask the Right Questions Asking the right questions changes everything when collecting employee feedback. The questions should be open-ended, specific, and directly linked to your goals and metrics. For instance, if you're trying to gauge the effectiveness of a new management style, a question like ‘How has the new management style affected your daily work?’ would be much more effective than a simple ‘Do you like the new management style?’. Make your questions specific and relevant. Instead of a broad query such as ‘How do you feel about the company culture?’, ask something like ‘What aspects of our company culture do you believe could be improved for better team collaboration?’. This will give you actionable feedback that goes beyond a mere assessment. Remember, your goal is to encourage honesty and transparency, so always assure employees that their feedback will remain confidential. By doing so, you create a safe space for employees to voice their genuine thoughts and suggestions, empowering you with the insights needed to improve and grow as an organization. 6. Analyze and Act on Feedback Analyzing and acting on the feedback you receive is a crucial step in improving your organization. Here's how to do it effectively: Organize Your Data: Use tools like Excel or Google Sheets to structure your feedback data for analysis. Categorize feedback based on themes, departments, or specific issues for easy pattern and trend identification. Identify Patterns and Trends: Dive deep into the organized feedback to find recurring themes or patterns, which can highlight areas for improvement or strengths to be enhanced. You can do this manually and use your intuition to see what emerges. Engage Experts: If required, involve professionals specializing in data analysis or sentiment interpretation. They offer unbiased views and thorough analysis. Today, you can easily carry out analysis and reporting with LIKE.TG. We also help with people analytics to show you a deeper picture of your employees' experience throughout our business. Communicate the Results Feedback only matters if you use it. What’s important is to communicate the outcomes of your survey, focus group, or open-door interviews to all participants. This includes not only the employees who provided the feedback but also the management team responsible for actioning the insights. As a part of this communication process, you should explicitly outline the changes that will be implemented due to the feedback. Whether it's a modification in workflow, introduction of new software, or a shift in company policy, each action plan should be detailed clearly. And explain how these changes will benefit employees. Communicating your feedback collection results builds trust and shows that your retail business not only values the feedback provided by the employees but also takes concrete actions based on it. This level of transparency enhances employee morale, encourages participation in future feedback initiatives, and grows your business. Leverage Feedback and Boost Employee Experiences in Retail You cannot overestimate the value of employee feedback in the retail sector. Feedback helps understand your employees' experiences, find areas for improvement, and support strategic decisions that drive business growth. It also fosters a culture of transparency and collaboration, which results in better employee retention and stronger team dynamics. So, take action today and collect feedback from employees in your retail business effectively with LIKE.TG! Try Workmates Interactive Demo Click trough it yourself withinteractive demo. Try It Now
How to Effectively Utilize Microsoft Teams for Customer Service
Modern day clients are unwilling to do business with a company that treats them merely as a ticket. They expect every business they interact with to provide fast, friendly, personal, and efficient customer service, or they will switch to a competitor.Unfortunately, ensuring that you are responsive across multiple communication channels without compromising the quality of customer service can be an uphill task.To achieve this and beat the competition, companies need a forward-thinking strategy that can unite their workforce, streamline processes, and enhance the quality of customer interactions.Imagine facilitating seamless teamwork while delivering outstanding customer service, all from one integrated platform.In this blog post, we’ll explore how utilizing Microsoft Teams for customer service can help foster a collaborative environment, build enduring customer relationships, and drive brand success. Let’s dive in. How does Microsoft Teams complement customer service?Introduced in 2016, Microsoft Teams provides a platform for over 1 million organizations to connect their customer service workforce to deliver top-notch customer experiences.Here’s how you can use MS Teams to transform customer service.Enhance workplace collaboration“77% of consumers want brands’ internal teams to communicate and collaborate so they don’t have to repeat themselves.”- KhorosWith remote work becoming increasingly common, it has never been more vital to ensure that a distributed workforce is well connected, engaged, and empowered to effectively resolve customer issues.MS Team’s strength lies in its ability to bring different segments of the workforce together—and that’s exactly what customer service needs.With built-in collaboration features such as file sharing, coauthoring, and screen sharing, help desk personnel can brainstorm and quickly come up with creative solutions that improve service levels.Empower customer support agents with readily available informationProviding agents with relevant resources ensures they deliver timely, accurate, and personalized support experiences that mold positive customer perceptions toward your brand.Adopting Microsoft Teams for customer service provides a centralized platform for agents to access the latest information, updates, and resources necessary for resolving customer issues efficiently.With real-time collaboration tools and integrations with knowledge management systems, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and AI-powered search engines, agents can instantly retrieve customer history and preferences, share insights, and consult experts.This ensures they have the most current and relevant information to provide accurate and timely support.This helps customer support teams to:Streamline customer support operationsReduce ticket resolution timesDeliver satisfying customer experiencesImprove overall customer satisfactionStreamline workflowsHaving a unified platform that consolidates all tools and customer interactions is crucial for customer support operations.By adopting MS Teams for customer service, you can bring together everything from incoming tickets to essential productivity tools in one easy-to-navigate location.This approach eliminates the tool-switching chaos and stress involved in gathering scattered information.Moreover, it offers a cohesive interface for handling all forms of customer communication, including chat, voice calls, and video calls, enabling support teams to effortlessly start and track conversations, reduce response times, enhance service quality, and boost overall customer satisfaction.Provide 24/7 supportOffering round-the-clock customer support is critical in today’s global market to accommodate clients in various time zones and provide immediate assistance for urgent issues.Microsoft Teams facilitates this kind of customer support through its compatibility with a range of devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.This allows customer service representatives to respond to and address issues at any time, from any place.Such flexibility overcomes time-zone constraints, ensuring customer support remains consistent and reliable.This continuous availability also facilitates feedback gathering in real-time, which helps in resolving issues quickly and enhancing products or services, which, in turn, contributes to building a strong brand and elevating customer trust.Personalize customer experiencesTailoring customer support to meet individual preferences, needs, and historical interactions is essential for effectively addressing customer problems and improving service recovery.MS Teams makes every interaction you have with clients more customer-centric, conversational, and human.Customer support agents can utilize these capabilities to provide real-time solutions that are relevant and adapt to individual customer preferences.For example, an agent could use screen sharing and remote assistance to walk a customer through solutions to complex issues that require visual aid.This type of customer service feels more intimate and relevant, strengthening bonds and cultivating lasting customer relations.Facilitate training and knowledge sharingAccording to Research.com, 68% of employees prefer to learn or train in the workplace. Incorporating Microsoft Teams into your customer service operations provides a dependable platform for ongoing employee education and knowledge exchange.Managers can deliver live or recorded sessions, share materials, and engage in real-time discussions with employees by creating dedicated channels for different topics or departments.MS Teams’ ability to integrate various apps and tools, such as file sharing, wikis, and project management utilities, enhances the learning experience.Cross-departmental collaboration is also empowered as customer service staff can easily reach out to subject matter experts in other teams, ask questions, and share insights, fostering a culture of knowledge exchange.This interconnection ensures that customer service agents have access to the latest information and resources, enabling them to resolve customer issues more confidently.Ideal scenarios for using Teams in customer serviceHere are some situations in which you may want to utilize MS Teams for customer service:When providing real-time, omnichannel support: By integrating MS Teams with a variety of other tools and services, such as social media platforms, live chat tools, and email, you allow customers to quickly find solutions via their preferred channel.When you have a remote or hybrid workforce: MS Teams’ compatibility with multiple devices and its ability to be accessed from any location makes it a perfect tool for companies that employ remote or hybrid work models. It enables supervisors to effectively manage their teams and facilitates seamless collaboration among agents, allowing them to offer customer support from wherever they may be.When your customer support team already uses MS Teams: Your customer service representatives may already be utilizing MS Teams in their everyday tasks. If so, integrating customer service operations within Teams would eliminate the need for additional training and the adoption of new customer service tools.When you want to foster collaboration and teamwork: Should a service delivery emergency arise or should customer support agents encounter intricate customer service inquiries, it may become necessary to assemble a dedicated customer service team to work collaboratively via Teams to resolve the problem.When you want to improve your customer experience: In the quest to improve customer experiences and build stronger relationships, you can leverage MS Teams to gather feedback from customers, track customer interactions, and analyze data to identify areas for improvement.How to use MS Teams as a help deskMicrosoft Teams doesn’t have a specific customer support add-on. Therefore, how exactly can you provide efficient customer service using Microsoft Teams?The secret lies in integration.To set up Teams for customer service operations, you will need to integrate it with dedicated customer support software, like LIKE.TG, to retrieve, display, and resolve support requests efficiently.LIKE.TG fully integrates with Microsoft Teams to facilitate fast response times to customer requests and ensure better coordination amongst customer support agents, managers, and members from other departments—all from a single screen.Refer to Syncfusion’s article on how to install and configure Microsoft Teams for customer support with LIKE.TG to learn more.After setting up the MS Teams environment for customer service, you can use the combined features of LIKE.TG and Teams to:Share files, screenshots, and other resources with colleagues and customersReceive instant notifications for each ticketing eventTrack the progress of tickets right from your MS Teams channelsCreate and manage tasks efficientlyUpdate customer data across platforms without leaving TeamsEasily collaborate when resolving customer issuesProvide personalized customer supportOptimize your customer service with Microsoft TeamsMS Teams offers a robust and flexible platform that can help you provide better customer service.Using Teams for customer service, you can leverage its ubiquity, versatility, and efficiency to deliver faster, easier, and more personalized customer experiences.LIKE.TG harnesses Teams to streamline customer service processes, provide real-time notifications, and track tickets along the resolution pipeline.Contact us to schedule a live demo to experience how you can utilize all the capabilities of Teams plus the power of our unrivaled customer service solution to deliver top notch customer experiences from a single screen. Or, start a free trial to get instant access today.We trust that you found value and insight in this blog post. Are there any additional strategies you employ for leveraging MS Teams in customer service?Your input is highly appreciated. Feel free to share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section.Recommended reads15 Best Small Business Tools & Software (2024)SaaS Customer Success: 9 Best Practices, Importance, and Tools12 Reasons to Choose User-Friendly Help Desk Software7 Best Help Desk Software Features for Boosting Your Customer Support
How to empower citizen developers to help overcome skills shortages
The pandemic accelerated digital transformation across all industries, exacerbating Australia’s tech skills shortage. Research from RMIT Online identified a need for 156,000 new technology workers in Australia, with 87% of jobs now requiring digital skills. This skills gap is set to cost the economy $10 billion in lost growth by 2025 in technology, media, and communications alone.Business leaders are realizing the urgent need to address the digital skills shortage so they can continue to innovate and grow. Enter citizen developers—non-technical employees who use low-code development platforms to build digital workflows to solve business problems. When citizen developers can build visual, modular, templated workflows to streamline disconnected processes and eliminate mundane tasks, they can unlock new efficiencies and business value.The benefits of low-code developmentMany citizen developers have never typed a line of traditional code. Today, thanks to low-code platforms, new applications can be built in days and weeks, not months and years. Because these non-technical employees are typically on the front line closest to the business problems they solve, they often spot opportunities that would otherwise be missed.Even better, by broadening the pool of talent involved in digitizing and improving business operations, businesses can free IT teams to focus on more strategic, high-priority projects.Instead of spending their time on relatively simple yet time-consuming tasks, or having to translate business issues into briefs for software engineers, IT teams can dedicate their energy to more complex projects that were previously out of reach. As a result, the overall innovation output of an organization can shift significantly upward.Low-code application platforms empower any employee to rapidly build apps that solve big, organizational, everyday challenges. It’s no surprise businesses are starting to take note: By 2024, Gartner expects the majority of tech products and services will be built by professionals outside of IT. 3 ways to activate citizen developersThe right tools can help fill the IT skills gap. To get it right, companies will need to address some cultural considerations before they can successfully shift the responsibility for problem-solving from software engineers and developers to business subject matter experts:1. Hire for low-codingThe beauty of low-code platforms is that they’re built to be simple and accessible. They streamline the development process, taking care of technical challenges so that your employees can focus their time and energy on solving business problems.To build a pool of citizen developers, businesses need to seek out employees who have deep business knowledge and who understand the positive impact technology and digitization can have on business processes.Diversity also matters when recruiting citizen developers. Not everybody has access to the years of specialized training or the disposition and interest to write code. Research shows that low-code platforms broaden the range of people contributing to our digital future, increasing diversity and improving outcomes. The more capability we can put into the hands of creative problem-solvers who know the business, the more impact technology will have.2. Set them up for successOnce the business has identified its citizen developers, the main challenge is enabling and empowering them with access to the right tools, as well as training and ongoing support. By opening a development platform to a larger group of people, you run the risk of application sprawl and overdevelopment. To manage innovation effectively, the tools you use must have the right governance standards and frameworks in place.Although new technologies draw attention through effusive proclamations from early adopters, their long-term longevity is driven by use cases developed by users on the ground. New use cases for low-code application platforms spring up every day. Encouragingly, we’re seeing a wide diversity of our customers build their own low-code apps with LIKE.TG App Engine. One aerospace customer developed a low-code app that reduced manufacturing transportation incidents by 20%.3. Create and foster communityTo sustain a thriving citizen developer program, business leaders must cultivate a positive, productive community supported by the IT organization. There needs to be active engagement to provide training and support so the business experts can focus on business issues while IT teams handle access, security, and governance.Support and collaboration are key. Most low-code platform providers host forums where members exchange tips, tricks, and solutions. And, simple tactics like hackathons guided by experts can introduce employees to low-code development in a structured setting to help them succeed.In a world where digital transformation is a primary determinant of business success, low-code developers are the fuel for organizations to keep innovating. Low-code tools can enable talented employees from across the business to innovate and digitize processes and workflows that might otherwise sit on the IT back burner.With the right criteria and safeguards in place, citizen developers can help organizations overcome the gap in tech skills, support digital transformation initiatives, and increase efficiency and business growth.Learn how LIKE.TG empowers citizen developers to build low-code apps fast.
How to Encourage Knowledge Sharing in the Workplace
Is there open communication among the support teams in your workplace, or do they tend to withhold important information and compete with each other?As an employer, you have probably asked yourself several times how you can provide employees with the tools they require to be successful in their positions and maintain their competitiveness.This can be difficult due to a shortage of human resources, but knowledge sharing can be the solution.You are aware of the proverb: “Sharing is caring.” This is true, especially when it comes to gaining skills or knowledge in the workplace.If employees can openly and efficiently share their knowledge, it’s a win for organizations on many levels.This blog will explore the importance of cultivating a knowledge-sharing culture, its impact on organizational success, and strategies for promoting knowledge sharing within a company. What is knowledge sharing?Knowledge sharing refers to the process by which employees exchange information, insights, experiences, ideas, and expertise within an organization or a community.It is about sharing thoughtful knowledge with team members to understand everyone, solve problems, and learn. As a result, it improves employees’ overall productivity and innovation.Knowledge can be shared through different platforms such as formal training, meetings, documentation, online web tools, informal discussions, and mentorship programs.This becomes the foundation upon which decisions are made accurately.Types of knowledge sharing in a workplace Facilitating knowledge sharing can support the exchange of three types of knowledge. They include:Tacit knowledgeInformation that is not easy to articulate consists of skills or knowledge gained through experiences that are difficult to put into words.For example: How to give a great presentation.Explicit knowledgeIt is easily written down, published, and shared with others.For example: Steps, facts, manuals, and guidelines.Implicit knowledgeOrganization’s processes, practices, and culture. It can be hard to identify and capture, but it can be communicated through shared experiences, beliefs, and cultural practices.For example: Language acquisition or cultural sensitivity.Methods of sharing knowledge in an organizationIn the workplace, information is usually conveyed in a few different ways. They include:Mentorship and coachingIn this relationship, experienced employees provide guidance and support and transfer information to less experienced colleagues. Employees can be mentored, and they can learn by:Frequently making inquiries to their mentorsObserving how the skilled employee worksReceiving adviceGetting feedback on ways to improveFormal training programsThese structured sessions or workshops are designed to convey specific skills, knowledge, or procedures to employees. They include:Online videosManualsHow-to videosInformal conversationsThese consist of everyday discussions between colleagues during which insights, experiences, and information are exchanged casually within the organization.Some examples of such conversations include:Community forumsMobile appsInternal social media and collaboration toolsThese are platforms that enable agents to share information, ask questions, and collaborate on tasks in real-time.They include:Microsoft teamsSocial mediaEffective strategies to encourage knowledge sharingEffective knowledge sharing in the workplace requires the implementation of various approaches. Below are some impactful strategies to encourage knowledge sharing: Create a culture that values knowledge sharingCreating a clear goal and vision for your employees cultivates a growth mindset and nurtures a sense of unity among them.When businesses encourage a knowledge-sharing culture, employees can freely communicate valuable information and ideas across different departments and tasks.This collaborative approach enhances teamwork and lays the groundwork for productive partnership and effective cooperation.Facilitate free and organized knowledge sharingEmployees should exchange information throughout the day and schedule regular check-ins, weekly meetings, and formal knowledge-sharing sessions.This continuous flow of communication builds a collaborative work environment, ensuring everyone is on the same page and can quickly address any issue.When businesses communicate new updates or brand features to employees during scheduled times, it helps those employees understand the information, reduces confusion, and promotes customer engagement.Scheduled communication ensures that employees receive consistent and accurate information critical for maintaining a unified message across the organization.Establish knowledge sharing tools for collaborationEncouraging knowledge sharing is insufficient. Businesses must also offer employees a platform to share their knowledge effectively.Establish a space where employees can collaborate and exchange ideas or skills. This can be achieved by utilizing intranet tools to develop forums, task management systems, mobile apps, or knowledge management software.Using knowledge base software platforms, businesses can:Develop, organize, and handle information for users to easily accessManage company information such as how-to articles, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and manuals that they can share with their customers and support agentsEstablish a centralized hub where information is stored and managed in a structured manner, allowing employees and clients to search for and solve their problems independentlyHave an established procedure for knowledge managementEstablishing a structured knowledge management process is important to ensure that all information collected by employees is accurately documented and stored.Creating a knowledge base will enable agents to access information and translate it into their preferred languages, improving understanding.This will greatly facilitate information retrieval and access, crucial for effective problem-solving.Invest in technologies that facilitate knowledge sharingUse digital platforms like websites, online forums, social media channels, Microsoft Teams, and collaboration tools.They will facilitate the seamless sharing of information, best practices, and lessons learned among employees.McKinsey reports that businesses may increase knowledge worker productivity by 20-25% by utilizing social technology.Additionally, businesses can embrace artificial intelligence tools, such as generative AI Copilot, to facilitate information sharing.These AI tools are useful to employees in the following ways:Generating ideas to provide valuable information while communicatingSimplifying, rephrasing, or condensing informationProviding error-free informationDetecting sentiment or intentIt’s essential to ensure that these platforms are smooth, easily accessible, and designed to encourage active engagement and participation from all users.Acknowledge and reward contributionsRecognize team members who actively share knowledge and offer rewards to them.Show appreciation for their input by presenting awards, praising them during team meetings, or featuring them in company newsletters.Introducing a program for rewarding employees can also foster increased knowledge sharing.This can help employees feel that their ideas are highly appreciated, and it can involve them in the growth of the business.Some of rewards include:PromotionsCertificatesBonusesRecognition programsOffice perks (free meals, snacks, or coffee)DiscountsEducational scholarshipsBusinesses that recognize and appreciate employees’ knowledge and expertise make their employees feel valued and empowered.Acknowledging employees’ contributions fosters a sense of pride and ownership in their work, which can significantly boost morale and job satisfaction.Organize training programs for your employeesImplementing employee training programs effectively distributes knowledge throughout the company, ensuring that all team members have the skills needed to fulfil their roles.These programs promote a collaborative learning environment by offering employees formal opportunities to learn from experts and from one another.Regular training sessions encourage employees to share their skills and experiences more freely by supporting a knowledge sharing culture of professional development and continual improvement.Measure the effectiveness of knowledge sharing strategiesWhen businesses assess the effectiveness of employees’ knowledge sharing, this provides tangible evidence of its impact and underscores its benefits.This data-driven approach fosters a culture of ongoing improvement by identifying areas for development and recognizing successful practices.Moreover, companies should actively promote participation in knowledge-sharing programs by showcasing successful outcomes and commending contributions.Benefits of a knowledge-sharing culture in an organizationMaking knowledge sharing a priority will unquestionably set the stage for long-term growth and achievement. Let’s find out why knowledge sharing is advantageous in workplaces.Increases agents’ satisfaction and retentionA culture that encourages knowledge sharing fosters a sense of belonging, collaboration, and teamwork, leading to higher employee satisfaction and engagement.Employees are more likely to be retained and be loyal to the company when satisfied.Satisfied employees are also more likely to develop a strong emotional connection to their workplace, which can result in increased motivation and a willingness to go above and beyond their roles.Results in higher productivity and efficiencySharing knowledge, tips, and shortcuts can help streamline workflows and improve efficiency.By leveraging existing knowledge and resources, employees can avoid starting from scratch, leading to time and cost savings for the organization.When employees have access to a repository of collective wisdom, they can make more informed decisions quickly and execute tasks more effectively.Having adequate knowledge to share increases productivity, and readily available information increases satisfaction.Enhances agent collaboration and communicationBusinesses enhance communication and collaboration among team members and departments at all organizational levels by implementing a platform for exchanging knowledge and skills.This breaks down silos and encourages collaboration among employees, which can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of business processes.Additionally, by sharing knowledge and expertise with stakeholders, organizations can build strong relationships and improve their ability to work together to achieve common goals.Improves problem-solving skillsAccess to diverse perspectives and experiences helps support teams tackle complex challenges more effectively.Starmind researchers found that 67% of agents and 84% of C-suite executives believe they could have avoided previous errors if they had access to the right knowledge.Knowledge sharing encourages creative problem-solving approaches and identifies improvement solutions.When employees have skills, it becomes easier for them to deliver good customer service experience.Accelerates learning and developmentKnowledge sharing is essential to fostering continuous learning and skill development among employees.When employees tap into their colleagues’ collective expertise, they can quickly acquire new skills, learn best practices, and gain valuable industry insights.A centralized knowledge management system and articles created and managed within the company can serve as valuable employee references, aiding their onboarding processes and contributing to their ongoing learning and development.Reduces operational costsKnowledge sharing culture can result in extensive cost reduction and improved operational effectiveness.Utilizing employees’ knowledge through organization content creation can reduce the need for expensive third-party training.Companies can save significant amounts of money by implementing internal knowledge sharing, especially through employee-generated learning.This allows employees to create courses for their team members, reducing turnover rates and saving the company costs associated with recruiting, hiring, and training new staff.Barriers to knowledge sharing in the workplaceThe following are the most typical obstacles that prevent knowledge exchange in an organization:Knowledge hoardingIn the workplace, some employees tend to be introverted and often remain silent, choosing not to share information with their team members.Consequently, companies struggle to access important information these employees keep to themselves.When many people in a company hold onto knowledge, it might be because of the:Cultural barriersLack of supportMisaligned incentivesKnowledge silosThese are barriers within organizations that prevent effective sharing of information across departments or teams.Businesses face danger from knowledge silos because the silos divide departments into different groupings.They arise from:Hierarchical structuresCultural normsTechnological constraintsThese silos may hinder productivity, problem-solving, innovation, and communication.Inadequate opportunityRemote work has introduced a new knowledge-sharing obstacle because of reduced social interaction.In the past, employees had opportunities to socialize and share information in informal and formal settings.However, with the rise of the digital era, more team members are working remotely, resulting in fewer natural interactions and social exchanges and less open knowledge sharing.Lack of awarenessA company must ensure that all employees understand how to access information and resources for knowledge management.If the message is unclear, team members may not know when or why to use these resources, which can lead to a slow adoption of knowledge-sharing practices.Empower employees with a knowledge sharing cultureA knowledge sharing culture is the foundation of organizational success, driving collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning.By fostering an environment where employees feel empowered to share their expertise and insights, companies can unlock the full potential of their workforce.Implementing effective tools, creating incentives, and overcoming common barriers are essential strategies to cultivate a culture of knowledge sharing.Organizations that prioritize knowledge-sharing culture enhance efficiency and problem-solving capabilities and boost employee engagement and retention rates.Contact us to arrange a live demo and experience how LIKE.TG features can help you implement a knowledge-sharing culture. You can also sign up for our free trial for more information.I hope you found the article useful. Do you have any ideas or recommendations? Kindly leave your comments in the section below.Related articles Internal Customer Service: Definition and Best PracticesKnowledge Management System: Examples and Effective GuidelinesHow to Create a Knowledge Base in 7 Easy Steps
How To Engage Employees In Online Harassment Trainings
All employees should feel safe to work, learn, and grow. However, workplace harassment can eliminate your employees’ sense of comfort and safety at work. This harrowing experience might forever tarnish otherwise their positive experiences and memories in your company. Every employer and manager have the responsibility to ensure team members are safe from these kinds of threats and harm. One way to do this is to conduct online harassment training. Unfortunately, it can be a challenge to ensure engagement during these kinds of virtual training. This article provided some tips on how you can shape your sexual harassment training to encourage engagement and boost its effectiveness. If your business is based in New York City or nearby areas and you’re looking for a reliable online harassment training provider, there are a lot of reliable institutions you can reach out to. They usually offer interactive sexual harassment education and additional training for employees. This course training meets the compliance requirements from all 50 states, including New York State and California. 1. Ditch Theories And Focus On Real-Life Stories Most businesses’ human resources departments might make the mistake of simply discussing the boring, theoretical instances of workplace harassment. For instance, they tend to empathize with the rules and guidelines in place, but don’t explain any relatable or real-life applications. Employees need to be aware of how this annual training ties into their professional lives and work duties. So, if you’re comfortable with it, you can focus more on giving real-life stories or personal anecdotes to reveal what it is like to experience that offensive behavior. After all, the power of storytelling is one of the best ways to engage people. A good story can connect with people on an emotional level and actually holds their attention as certain scenarios unfold. Of course, you shouldn’t name names. You should simply highlight experiences from the past to help connect with employees. Behavior-based harassment training can humanize your topics through relevant examples and stories, motivating employees to reflect upon their conduct and think of what they can do to make positive changes. 2. Include Scenario-Based Examples Sharing real-life experiences may be limited. So, if you can, you should also include scenario-based examples of what workplace harassment looks like. Most harassment training includes videos where actors portray the scenarios. That said, unless you have the resources to have a professional-level video production available or to hire actors, it may be better to stick with written scenarios. Unrealistic or campy video examples can actually make it look like a joke and reduce the seriousness with which employees view the training. This can result in not fully understanding the gravity of the issue. 3. Incorporate VR Latest technological innovation like virtual reality has provided valuable benefits in several sectors, especially in the training industry. If you have the budget, you can incorporate VR as you include scenario-based examples in your sexual harassment prevention training to boost employee engagement. This can also help employees understand the purpose of such coaching better. Employee training sessions can include using digital VR goggles to immerse learners in a 3D world where they are subjected to different scenarios—whether they watch a co-worker experience harassment or their digital character experiencing it ‘firsthand.’ This allows employees to learn how to identify and respond to sexual harassment in the workplace when it’s happening to someone else. Also, it can teach employees how to react if it ever happens to them. Perhaps the greatest benefit of incorporating VR instead of simply explaining it is that the scenario can feel authentic and organic. Users will be prompted with suggested responses to a situation. The story would then unfold depending on what response they make or how long they react. 4. Encourage Safe Discussion and Collaboration Workplace harassment training is often done in teams. This helps promote a culture of openness and trust among employees which can help enhance their engagement levels. Encouraging your employees to discuss these issues and achieve the training goals and outcomes can increase interest in the harassment prevention training program and create more favorable conditions for active participation. You can also introduce collaborative activities that can cultivate their ability to work effectively with one another. Through this, you can promote knowledge and experience sharing. These activities can help drive toward a common goal and encourage the creation of solutions that will benefit everyone and the company as a whole. That said, workplace harassment is a sensitive topic. So, you must create a safe space where employees can openly discuss these topics. Make sure to include a moderator to control passionate conversations and debates because tempers can flare. You don’t want an online anti-harassment training discussion to become a new harassment platform. After all, in such situations, particularly online, people often attack each other with the excuse of “just being honest.” Conclusion Every business has the responsibility to maintain a workplace that’s free from any kind of harassment. Training your employees is a cost effective and valuable way of minimizing and preventing workplace harassment issues. Making sure your workers receive training will help make your company a safer, more positive workplace for everyone. To ensure effective online anti-harassment training, make sure to follow the above tips in keeping employees engaged, allowing them to be inspired to implement what they’ve learned into their lives. Establish workplace harassment prevention as compliance training. Ensure that the online training you acquire is compliant with federal and state training requirements and other local laws. You should also take any sexual harassment complaints and other grievances that may reach your knowledge seriously. 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!
How to Ensure New Employees Remember Info During Onboarding
The employee onboarding process is your company’s opportunity to introduce your new workers to your business and to give them the tools and resources they need to help ensure they smoothly transition to their new roles. By carefully planning onboarding steps, you can provide new employees with the relationships, tools, and information they need to be comfortable and confident at their new place of work. When you onboard new hires, you will need to provide your new workers with all kinds of information during the process, such as the daily tasks they will need to complete, a list of different departments and people who they need to contact in certain situations, and company policies, to name just a few. It could be helpful to use onboarding software and an onboarding checklist to plan the onboarding process better. The checklist should contain things like the start date of each new hire and the information you need to provide them with, such as login codes and the departmental hierarchy of your company. However, it can be challenging for new employees to remember all the important information they are given during the onboarding process, seeing as everything will be new to them and they are likely to feel anxious and excited. So, seeing as you not only need to provide new workers with all the important information they require but also make sure they remember that information, you will want to check out the following advice. Send a Welcome Email to Make Employees Feel Part of the Team and Provide Them with All the Info They Need By sending a welcome email to new workers, you will help employees feel part of the team. But a welcome email is also an excellent way of providing your new workers with all the information, tools, and resources they require. Additionally, consider adding a professional email signature. This is a great opportunity to showcase your brand and provide contact information for further inquiries. You should go over the important information contained in the welcome email in person as well, but if an employee forgets something, they will be able to easily look it up if it is contained in the welcome message. Make sure that all important information in the email is very clear. Also, provide the contact number or email address of the person that new workers should get in touch with should they have questions or require information they cannot find. To Maximize the Employee Onboarding Process, Provide Information at a Welcome Meeting You will want to invite all new employees to a welcome meeting where they can get to know the team they will be working alongside. By doing that, you can help them to make immediate connections, get answers to any questions they have, and create better employee engagement. The transition to their new positions will then be much smoother. First days will always be nerve-racking, so a welcome meeting is your chance to put new employees at ease. It is also your opportunity to provide them with important information. By talking to new team members in person about the important stuff, they are much more likely to remember the info and you will create a better employee experience. Furthermore, even though the information will also be included in the welcome email, it is best to provide new starters with print-outs of information and resources. By doing so, you make it easy for them to flick through the pages over coffee breaks or on the train on the way home. By simply having the information in a physical form, your new starters are more likely to keep looking through it. Also, use design methods like using the right fonts, including color and images to make the content more interesting, and using whitespace and bullet points so that every piece of information is clear. That way, your new starters are much more likely to remember the important information you give them. After a week on the job, they should know such information inside out. And by providing clear information from the start, you can better ensure employee retention. Create a Poster Featuring Key Information Following on from the last point, it is a very good idea to create a poster that features all the key information. You can place posters on the walls of the meeting room and in other areas, such as individual employees’ workstations. You can also produce smaller versions of the posters to give out to employees directly. When you have all the key information in one single place, new employees are sure to remember the content. And the more you use the right design techniques to make your poster attractive and engaging, the more you can ensure the content will be remembered. Thankfully, you do not need to be a qualified designer to create eye-catching posters. Instead, you can use online professional templates to create a poster design that will help your employees to remember all the crucial information you need them to know. Show Your New Employees Around the Workplace Some of the important info your employees need to remember will pertain to the workplace and the work environment. For instance, new employees will need to remember things like where human resources and other departments are located, where fire exits are located, and who different people within the organization are. To help them remember such things on a day to day basis, show your new employees around the workplace. Indeed, that should be an integral part of any onboarding session. Not only does it give the new starters a better way of remembering some important information. It also creates a sense of belonging and enables them to become accustomed to their new environment. They can then be confident and ready in their new roles. Introduce New Employees to Coworkers and Supervisors During the welcome meeting on an employee’s first day, new employees should meet members of staff and senior managers that they will be directly in contact with in their new roles, and they can meet other members of staff during the walk around the workplace. But it is also important that your new hires meet members of staff who they will be working with during the training period, such as coaches and section supervisors. Then, the new hire feel can be less daunting. When new workers have the opportunity to speak informally with the people they will be directly working with in the first few weeks, they can get to know the company culture and learn about important information in a less formal way. In turn, the information they need to know will be easier to remember. They will also have contacts who they can ask any questions. Check in on New Employees During Their First Weeks It will take time for new employees to learn everything they need to remember and to become accustomed to working in a new environment with new people. Therefore, do not limit the onboarding process to just the first day or week. You should check in on new hires during the first few weeks to make sure they have everything they need and to answer any questions they may have. The longer the onboarding process lasts and the more time and attention new employees receive, the easier it will be for them to remember important information and feel comfortable in their new roles. So, do not leave employees to their own devices once they have started. It will typically take at least a month for new workers to get to grips with everything and find their comfort zones, so pay attention to your new employees during the initial few weeks. If you do not, it could take as long as 12 months for employees to become familiar with everything! Summing Up As long as you remember to do the right things, from the initial hire process to the first day of onboarding employees, your new workers are more likely to remember the important information they are given during the automated automated onboarding process. So, to recap: Send a welcome email. Provide all important information at a welcome meeting. Create a poster featuring key information. Show your new employees around the workplace. Introduce new employees to coworkers and supervisors. Check in on new employees during the initial weeks. 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!
How to flatten the ITOM curve
As I sit here writing this blog, I can’t believe how much things have changed. No more chats in the hall or booking a conference room. With this pandemic, everything is virtual. My laptop and mobile are my lifeline. They are the only way I can work.I know I’m not alone. How many of you are reading this blog at the kitchen table—or, if you’re lucky, in your home office? And I suspect it’s not going to change any time soon. If ever. Changes like this have a funny way of becoming permanent. We miss the personal interaction, but we don’t miss the commute. Also, just think about how much money companies are going to save on office space.Which brings me to the topic of today’s day’s blog.With everyone so dependent on IT to keep them connected, it’s putting a huge strain on ITOM (IT operations management). Talk about mission critical. For example, if there’s a VPN issue, literally everyone is affected—not just the road warriors. And the demand for remote services is only going to increase as more of our work moves online.So, if you run an IT operations team, what are you going to do? It’s a huge challenge. Heroics aren’t enough—although I know we have plenty of heroes out there. It’s not just about dealing with today’s crisis. How do you scale as the number of digital services continues to explode? And how do you do this while keeping costs under control?Current toolsets and processes just aren’t up to the challenge. To start with, siloed monitoring tools create overwhelming noise, and it’s still a game of swivel chairs. The technology stack is becoming more complex, and it’s evolving at breakneck speed. Human beings just can’t keep up. In addition, many IT operations teams are still stuck managing infrastructure rather than focusing on what matters—the services their business depends on.It’s nobody’s fault. Everyone is doing their best, but their software tools are letting them down. Everything is too disconnected, too manual, and too slow.Something has to change.At LIKE.TG, we’re working with you to transform IT operations. Together, we’re leveraging the power of AIOps to: Predict service issues before they happen, increasing service availability and lowering costs by shifting operations to the left Prevent service issues from impacting users, automatically finding the root cause of issues and quickly identifying potential solutions Automate workflows across teams, lowering MTTR and increasing productivity And, with LIKE.TG, you get the service context you need, so you focus on what’s important for your business.Of course, all of this has to be more than pretty words. And it is. With LIKE.TG® IT Operations Management (ITOM), IT operations teams have been able to: Reduce monitoring noise by 90% Predict 35% of incidents before they occur Fix common service issues 10 times faster Improve productivity by 44% And we’ve only just started. We’re continuing to aggressively expand our capabilities, giving you the intelligent platform, you need to flatten the IT operations curve.One day, this pandemic will be over, but the world will have changed forever. Hopefully that change will be for the better, but whatever it is, we all need to be prepared for the challenge. With LIKE.TG ITOM, you’re ready.Until then, stay safe.P.S. Don’t forget to check out our latest eBook to learn more about how LIKE.TG ITOM can help you to predict, prevent, and automate.
How to get all your customer service channels ‘smiling’
One of the first things a voice-over acting coach tells their class is that people can hear your face. Studies back that up, even pointing out that we all have “smile sense”—being able to tell if a speaker on the phone or radio is happy.The same applies to customer service. Customers can tell if the agents they speak with are happy.Focus on peopleMany customer service agents are unhappy in their jobs. A 2021 McKinsey article reported 40% of employees overall are somewhat likely to leave their jobs in the next three to six months. Large call centers have always experienced high churn rates, but this exodus now includes the significantly experienced, well-respected “customer champions” you could count on year after year.Although self-service and self-help continue to be a key focus of innovation for customer service organizations, the people aspect must stay at the forefront. Obviously, your customer-facing agents must be supported. That also means supporting the diligent workers keeping vital information moving between front, middle, and back offices.Empower consistent and meaningful serviceThe McKinsey findings showed that while some areas such as feeling “valued by manager” require people actions, others such as “unmanageable workload” and feeling “engaged by work” are directly associated with the tools and systems employees use to help them succeed.Technology that creates logical and sane pathways between operations and people-to-people engagements can help agents stay one step ahead and wow their customers. Those same pathways can be used to power automation and artificial intelligence (AI) to better assign tickets to the right experts while freeing them from mind-numbing repetitive tasks.Keep the smiles realVodafone’s agents have superpowers with a 360-degree view of customers. Agents “have one application that helps them provide excellent customer service," says the company’s former head of digital experience.Blackhawk Network gives employees a voice in driving change. "Our frontline agents are heroes. They’re the ones dealing with the end consumer on a day-in, day-out basis,” says the company’s senior director of customer service. “The amount of recognition they receive when their idea goes all the way from planning to a product…creates a huge sense of engagement with the company.”The city of Santa Monica returns precious time to its workers. Serving citizens through digital means has saved more than 140,000 hours of staff time in the past 2.5 years.With LIKE.TG, employees are empowered to deliver seamless experiences. They’re more productive, able to focus on what matters without getting mired in the routine and mundane. And they’re happier, which enables them to serve customers better.Customers, in turn, are more loyal, and the company sees significant improvement to its bottom line.Gain more insights in our ebook: How to deliver great customer experience at scale.
How to Get Your Employee Onboarding Process Right
When a potential buyer visits your store, company, or organization and gets inefficient service, your chances of them becoming a customer are slim to none. This is all highly dependent on the company onboarding process. However, a disgruntled employee is not necessarily that way because they lack skills. A lot of the time, this is because of the employer's inability to train and guide their new staff. Proper company onboarding process takes time and is a work in progress. You need the right leadership, some technology-driven training and quality communication in the workplace. In return, you can get higher employee retention, job satisfaction, and with it – happier customers. What is Employee Onboarding Process? According to Guru, a quality employee onboarding process lifts the hire performance by as much as 30%. Moreover, according to some other surveys, new hires will be much longer if the introductory experience is good. But, what does this mean? This process is a purposeful, systematic, and strategized transformation of a selected and promising candidate into a good employee. Why is it so important? Just imagine, you come to a new place, where you meet new people; you don`t know the customs and rules, so you try to choose each word so carefully, that it could even sound unnatural. Actually, in just a few minutes you turn from self-assured, qualified professional into a shy and uncertain outsider. This inner feeling influences a new employee`s abilities stay focused and think straight. If you put your new employee` shoes, you will understand how unsecure and powerless you feel by losing control of the situation. That is why succeeding in your employee onboarding process is a prime element of making everything work right. So, companies that have such a system function as flawlessly as possible, offering quality services to customers and excellent work conditions to employees. How you approach your newest employees sets the tone for their entire experience in your company. Like any other important process, this also requires well-thought, deliberate steps. Here is what they include. Attracting and Recruiting New Employees The satisfaction and performance of employees depends greatly on the recruitment practices of the employer. First impressions aren't only important for you as a recruiter, but also for the person who has shown interest to work in your company. It is more than just a tiny moment; it is a vital element that launches a chain of events – the butterfly effect. The tone of the conversation depends on two people, so when you recruit new people, you need to prepare yourself just like they prepare for the interview. Think the job interview questions carefully to sound confident, create a comprehensive and detailed job description, and review the information potential employees will find on your website. If you need some assistance with creating your job description, crafting the questions, emails you send to interested parties, your terms and conditions, as well as policies, or even your website content, you might want to hire a professional like Study Clerk. Appearance is crucial for your business. Many of the people who will see your job description will want to learn more about the company before they apply to work there. The most qualified talent will be picky about where they'll work. As an employer, you must make sure that they are impressed from the moment when they read your ad. This guide was designed to help you navigate through those difficult tasks and help determine the right software for your organization, download our ebook now. Download now Employees' First Visit Once you get people interested in your workplace, you'll want to invite them in for an interview. This is your opportunity to meet them. But, it is also their opportunity to see where they'll work and who they'll work for. The work environment is more important than ever. People who work in bad conditions are less motivated, productive, and more likely to look elsewhere for a job. That is why creating good working environment is a key element of a fruitful task accomplishing. So to get something from your staff, you need to offer them good work conditions. The workspace compatibility has a huge impact on the work of your candidates. With that in mind, make sure that their first impression of your offices is positive. Give them a full view of the places they'll be seeing on a daily basis. Show them their office and desk. Introduce them to some of the people they'll work with. Tell them about the breaks, activities around the office, as well as their parking space. In other words, help your future employee feel comfortable in a new workplace. Your Offer If you find that a candidate is a good fit for your company, you'll want to give them an offer. You might even get a positive response from a rock-star candidate, one with excellent qualifications that gets to be picky about where he works. When this happens, you need to send an attractive offer. This doesn't only refer to the sum you'll offer them as a salary. It is about the key things that create the whole picture of your company. For instance, language – it should be direct, positive and honest. Moreover, your offer letter needs to be detailed, specific, and enticing. It should show not only the needed information, but also mention the value of the employee, that they can bring to the company. In other words, it needs to welcome your new member of the company. Continuous Onboarding Hiring an employee is just the first step of the onboarding process. You need to continuously stimulate employees to work at their best and make them feel like they've made the right choice when applying to work at your company. The best and reliable way to help your employee professional development is not to make them improve their skills and perform the needed tasks, because you say so, but to create the atmosphere where each employee will be responsible for their actions and feel themselves an important part of the working process. That is why you need to be accurate regarding each detail of an onboarding process. Make the most of your staff's first days in the office. Share relevant information, request their feedback, provide them with accurate and detailed information, allow them some time to adjust, and provide the necessary training. Remember, that each person likes attention and the feeling of value. The best motivation is not about money, it is about the spirit of the company and its culture that inspires to march ahead. Treat your employees with respect and make them want to come to work. Conclusion If you want to increase employee retention and keep your staff happy, you need a good strategy for onboarding. This will, in return, allow you to attract more customers, save more money, and help run your business smoothly. About Author: Helen Birk is a Human Resources manager at a popular company. She works side by side with employers and staff to assist them and motivate them. Birk holds a degree in Psychology and has a Master's degree in Business Communications.
How to Handle Customer Complaints: 5 Best Practices
Customer complaints are dissatisfied messages from customers when their expectations are not met regarding a company’s products, services, communication, marketing, or some combination of these.To handle customer service complaints and give your customers a positive perception of your business or product, resolve their complaints as fast as possible.Therefore, it is important to know how you can respond to your customers’ complaints to make them happy.In this blog, we will discuss the common types of customer complaints, methods of handling them, and the benefits of addressing them. What are customer complaints?Customer complaints refer to the negative feedback that customers give regarding a product, service, or experience they received from a company or brand. These complaints can be submitted through surveys, emails, social media reviews, community forums, or online review sites.Customer complaints can arise from a variety of issues, such as product defects, bad customer service, billing errors, or any other aspect that does not align with the customer’s expectations.Types of customer complaintsBelow are some typical customer complaints that you might come across in your daily interactions.Delay complaintsHaving to remain on hold on phone calls for extended periods of time may not be practical for customers who are busy. When the wait for assistance exceeds expectations, it can result in dissatisfaction and complaints.These complaints can also occur in situations involving late product shipments, delayed project deliverables, and other instances where timely service is expected but not delivered.How to resolve and prevent this customer complaintAnalyze call volume patterns and consider implementing callback options to reduce wait times.Update customers on the status of their orders, anticipated delays, and the new expected timelines.Set realistic initial timelines and prioritize tasks and projects based on their importance and urgency.Analyze the causes of delays and address them by streamlining operations, adopting new technologies, or removing bottlenecks.Offer compensation, such as discounts or freebies to help alleviate frustration.Delivery complaintsComplaints due to delivery problems are common in the e-commerce and logistics industries. Delivery issues can range from damaged goods to packages being lost or stolen. These issues can negatively impact customer satisfaction and the reputation of the business.How to resolve and prevent these customer complaintsProvide customers with accurate delivery estimations and real-time tracking information.Ensure that items to be delivered are packaged securely.Have an efficient return policy that allows customers to send back incorrect items at no extra cost.Apologize to customers and offer refunds for lost items.Complaints due to miscommunicationMiscommunication can occur for a variety of reasons, including language barriers, unclear instructions, technical problems, or simply a lack of clarity in the customer communication process.Complaints due to miscommunication can lead to customer dissatisfaction, negative word-of-mouth, and even customer churn.How to resolve and prevent this customer complaintActively listen to customers, understand their message, respond appropriately, and archive the conversation for future reference.Invest in regular training for customer service representatives to enhance their communication skills.Implement a contact management system to keep track of customer interactions and history, which can help reduce miscommunication.Use canned responses for common inquiries to provide consistent and accurate information.Offer multilingual support when possible to cater to customers from a diverse marketplace.Product or service quality complaintsQuality complaints occur when a company’s offerings do not meet customer expectations. Such complaints can result from minor issues such as a delay in service or major concerns like a product defect or a breach of contract.Handling these complaints effectively helps maintain customer loyalty and a positive brand perception.How to resolve and prevent these customer complaintsClearly communicate policies, procedures, and what the customer should expect.Identify the root cause of the problem and propose feasible solutions.Analyze complaints to understand where you can improve your products or service.Follow up with the customer after solving their issue to make sure they’re still satisfied.Complaints about unsupportive agentsCustomer complaints about unsupportive agents typically revolve around issues such as lack of empathy, inadequate resolution to problems, rudeness, or insufficient knowledge about the product or service.How to resolve and prevent this customer complaintProvide comprehensive training to agents to ensure they have the good product knowledge and customer service skills.Conduct regular performance reviews to improve agent productivity.Promote a culture where customer satisfaction is the goal and reward.Complaints arising from having to repeat informationInefficient communication systems often fail to retain or transfer key details across service interactions. Customers are then forced to repeatedly provide the same information whenever they are transferred to another agent.How to resolve and prevent this customer complaintImplement shared inbox software that centrally stores and provides easy access to customer information. Make sure agents can make notes on conversations before transferring an issue to another agent.Billing complaintsThese complaints arise when customers dispute charges on their bills, feel overcharged, are confused by the billing structure, or encounter errors in the billing process. These are usually caused by a lack of transparency, clerical mistakes, technical issues, or misunderstandings of the pricing model.How to resolve and prevent this customer complaintProvide clear and detailed explanations of charges.Make sure customers know what to expect before they purchase.Promptly correct any billing errors and offer refunds or credits where appropriate.Complaints due to a lack of self-service optionsCustomers sometimes express dissatisfaction when they are unable to find information to help them resolve issues independently. Younger customers, especially, prefer to find answers themselves rather than have to communicate with company representatives.How to resolve and prevent this customer complainInvest in user-friendly self-service options such as knowledge base software, FAQ pages, or forums.Regularly maintain information on these platforms so customers always find relevant information.How to handle customer complaintsRegardless of a business’s best efforts, its customers will have complaints at some point in the relationship. Here are some methods on how to avoid customer complaints and handle them effectively:Pay attention to the customer’s remarksMake inquiries to understand customer complaints betterBe apologetic, regardless of the issueAcknowledge the customers’ complaints and appreciate themProvide a solution to address customer complaints1. Pay attention to the customer’s remarksThe most important thing to do when you want to handle customer complaints is to listen to what your customer has to say. While listening, take notes to help you identify the problematic areas.Though your customer may perceive their problem one way, your extensive knowledge of your company’s product (or whatever the complaint involves) may give you greater insight into the core problem.When you listen to your customer, you are more likely to address the customer pain point solve the problem that is affecting the customer. If you do your job well, eventually, you get a happy customer.2. Make inquiries to understand customer complaints betterListening to your customers’ complaints is the time to learn all the important facts about the matter.How do you do this effectively? You get permission from your customer to ask some questions. As you ask questions, you get to understand the context of the issue, giving you more detail than you had before.Questioning helps you get to the root of the complaint. And with that, you figure out a way to resolve the issue as easily as possible.3. Be apologetic, regardless of the issueA study by Forbes reports that 96% of customers are unlikely to return to a business that has disappointed them.Therefore, whenever you get a complaint from a customer, you need to offer a sincere apology to win back customer trust.Offering an apology expresses that you did not expect the problem to occur. It also shows that you care about the customer’s issue.In your apology email, communicate that you are committed to setting things right as fast as possible.4. Acknowledge the customers’ complaints and appreciate themThough some customers may react negatively regarding an issue, it is a good idea to authentically thank them for raising the matter with you.Thanking your customer reveals that you are considering the complaint seriously.Besides thanking them, ensure you recognize how significantly the problem may be affecting the customer. Doing this is simple: just ask how much harm has been done.Your customer will view you as genuinely concerned.5. Provide a solutionFinally, after listening, asking questions, and acknowledging the issue, you should find a solution.Providing a solution is the final step in handling a customer complaint. The solution should address the issue reasonably and result in a happy customer.Handling customer complaints by utilizing LIKE.TGCustomer complaints are useful to every business. This is because negative feedback helps the business improve on specific shortcomings the moment the issues are rectified.LIKE.TG is a customer support platform for addressing customer complaints in an effective manner.The following are some of the ways LIKE.TG helps handle your customer complaints:Organize customers’ complaints effectivelyLIKE.TG provides a help desk ticketing system that converts all incoming support emails into tickets. Customers can respond to their tickets through email.By managing customer data from a central location, your staff can access the most recent information. With this, you can eliminate the need to track multiple responses and threads.You can also categorize tickets with tags and private notes based on customer requirements.By applying advanced filter rules to tickets, you can organize the tickets as needed and assign them to the appropriate support agent.Send quick responsesNetomi reports that for 61% of consumers, an outstanding customer support experience involves a short time to resolution.By using canned responses, you can send quick responses to common customer complaints without any mistakes.Perfection in a reply is important because it increases customers’ confidence in your support team.By eliminating chances for mistakes to be introduced, you can more accurately and effectively resolve customer complaints.LIKE.TG also lets you set priority levels for tickets so that critical issues can receive replies first.Send reminders regarding unsolved complaintsA service-level agreement (SLA) sets response and resolution due dates based on business hours.Most businesses have customers in various time zones. LIKE.TG allows you to create business hours and holiday lists to fit your team’s schedule.An SLA helps set ideal response times and send reminders about assigned issues and unsolved complaints via email.Reminders help prevent customer complaints from remaining unassigned or unaddressed for a long time.Sending a reminder allows agents to focus on resolving customer issues and speeds up the resolution process.Analyze the customer’s complaintsLIKE.TG’s reporting and analytics dashboards make managing a support team easier. For instance, a ticket conversation report shows messages updated by customers and agents across all communication channels in one place.By examining the agents’ responses to customers, you can identify agents who need more training and add a tag or private note inline for follow-up.Accordingly, these reports help support managers in monitoring agent performance and identifying areas that need improving to handle customer complaints better.Additionally, the customer satisfaction (CSAT) report provides CSAT scores, survey response rates, and customer feedback and ratings.Using filters, you can categorize CSAT data by agent, category, contact, and contact group. This helps identify customers’ issues and agents that may need additional help.Reduces the resolution time of customer complaintsLIKE.TG auto-assignment rules direct incoming tickets to the appropriate agents in the organization based on ticket attributes.Assigning tickets to the correct team based on the conditions configured avoids unnecessary redirecting between teams.By eliminating manual effort at each step of the ticket life cycle, agents can focus on resolving customer issues.Consequently, this helps support agents resolve issues on time and thereby reduces ticket resolution times.Address customer complaints for satisfaction and retentionHandling customer complaints is a primary function of a company’s support team, and handling them effectively can lead your company to growth. We build products that you can customize according to your present and future needs.Without a doubt, LIKE.TG can help you solve your customers’ complaints easily. Contact us to arrange a live demo to experience the enhanced capabilities LIKE.TG can offer your support team. Or, sign up for a 15-day free trial with instant access today.What strategies do you use to manage customer complaints?Feel free to share in the comments section below.
How to Have Positive Workplace Culture in the Healthcare Industry?
The healthcare industry includes services and goods that help in treating a patient. It is easily the most stressful industry. Occupational stress is prevalent among healthcare workers, so it is essential to create a positive workplace. Workplace culture involves a set of values and beliefs that help in the interaction between employees and managers. The workplace culture can highly affect how the healthcare organization is run, whether a clinic or a hospital. A culture cannot be enforced, and building it is not easy either. However, it is essential to create an environment that fosters the importance of employee appreciation; so it can be favorable to the organization. Workplace and Stress Work stress can be considered as the stress and harmful responses that occur because the employees cannot match the job requirements. Many things can cause stress in a workplace, including excessive demands, having no support, sudden role changes, and many more. The environment created in the workplace can also play a role in the stress of the worker. For example, the employment disputes that workers face can cause tensions within the workplace. Having stress in the workplace can lead to low motivation, performance, productivity, and morale, and the chances of acquiring ill health are higher when there is stress among colleagues. Work-related stress is prevalent, and working for long hours or having an increased workload can be exhausting physically and mentally. Maintaining a positive workplace culture is essential in understanding the impact on employee well-being. It will provide employees with much-needed comfort and ease while working. That, in turn, helps the organization to grow better as productivity increases. Occupational stress is faced by many employees regularly. Ensuring an employee doesn't suffer through this to promote productivity is essential. Healthcare Workers and Challenges Healthcare workers have challenging working conditions. Especially those treating patients have to make sure that they take care of the physical and mental health of the patient as well. Work in the healthcare industry can be insanely stressful, especially since it is unpredictable and demands physical work; it can also be tiring. It can also cause financial problems. They are also prone to exposure to hazardous materials and are likely to contract diseases. For example, when the pandemic hit. It was tough for healthcare workers to adjust to wearing the hazmat suit and so on, and it added to the already existing stress, grief, fatigue, and strain. Healthcare workers are trained to take care of the well-being of others before themselves. This trait can be admirable to a patient; however, it can harm the worker who does not focus on their health. The pressure on healthcare workers is quite different; they face emotional situations daily. They have extensive exposure to suffering and injuries, which can cause a stressful environment for health workers. What is Positive Workplace Culture? All workplaces are different and have different types of stress related to the occupation. However, having a positive workplace culture can help in the growth of the organization and the growth of the employee. A positive workplace culture is where the employee's well-being is prioritized by supporting them and policies that respect and create a positive and safe work environment for the employee's growth. In a positive workplace culture, there aren’t many employment disputes that workers face. Studies show that having a positive work culture can help the employee have better health, promote a better job, and increase employee loyalty. An employee can increase their confidence and skills in a positive workplace. It is essential for health workers because their work involves a lot of strain and stress; having a positive workplace and a proper support system can help improve the individual. A great corporate culture is created and maintained by its employees, which includes you and your colleagues. Supporting your coworkers is the first and most fundamental thing you can do. Get to know them as individuals, not simply as workmates. Recognizing and congratulating team members for their contributions is an excellent approach to setting an example and promoting a better culture. Having a positive workplace culture can help the employee in many areas, it is essential to maintain a support system that will help the society through the employee and promote the betterment of the society. How Can Workers Help in Creating Positive Workplace Culture? Communication Within An employee should be available for communication with their colleagues and employers, and they shouldn't make themselves distant. In a fast-paced environment, like the healthcare industry, it is hard to maintain inclusive internal communication. Including internal communication software for your company will ensure that all employees are heard and informed, which will ensure a positive workplace. Regular feedback about their performance can help employees understand more about themselves and get pointers to improve. The feedback doesn't necessarily have to be from a higher position; getting and giving feedback to other employees will help them better themselves. Employees should also be available to communicate with their colleagues, and the managers should ensure that an opportunity for the same is also created. Workers Must Have Opportunities for Growth When you connect with your colleagues, you are creating a positive ally, a potential ally. Creating an environment with friends or acquaintances can increase your growth potential. Most employees want to better themselves in any way possible. An organization that provides employees an opportunity to grow and the tools required will have a positive culture. It can be on-the-job training, a specific project or goals, etc. These can help the employee feel more valued and better themselves. The growth of the employee is the growth of the organization. Collaboration Among Employees Organizations encouraging collaboration among employees are likelier to have better productivity and performance. Employees can learn from each other and boost each other's performance by creating unity among the employees. It is essential to create a social network within the organization that is supported by the company, which will help create a network within departments. Activities like a potluck, games, a day outing, or even an unofficial party can help employees unwind and relax. Workers Must know Their Purpose Along with creating unity, employees must realize their purpose and importance. It is important to create a purpose-driven vulture. The company's goals must focus on a core value and should be detectable in the organization's actions. These goals and core values should be understood and maintained by the employee. By doing so, employees can support each other and help in their growth as well as the organization's growth. Having a purpose and following through must be essential characteristics of a positive culture. Using the LIKE.TG, you can help understand employee work mindsets and needs to build a more effective workplace culture. Workmates by LIKE.TG® helps you connect, engage, and communicate easily with your most valuable employees. The employees are better engaged with the business and one another, thanks to the LIKE.TG work platform, which they can use to comment, react, and provide feedback immediately from their desktop or smartphone devices. Features of Workplace Culture in Health Work In addition to the above points, a healthy work organization must have a positive workplace culture. Below are a few necessary points for the betterment of the workers and the organization. Leadership Workers need to have healthy leadership. Having a proper leadership system can help grow the healthcare organization. It ensures that the organization and the employees to the right path and serves the organization's good. Leaders have the power to change the direction of the organization and its growth. Organizational Practices These practices have to be reflected in the actions of the worker, even in their day-to-day work. Also, establishing a proper communication system will help create a well-structured environment. There should be transparency between the departments, and it is essential there shouldn't be double standards within the departments. Employee experience Making sure that the employees have the required tools can help them perform a better job. Consider making small or even huge changes to better your employees, making them more comfortable. Creating a positive employee experience plays a huge role in the experience of both the employees and the patients they treat. An employee needs to be comfortable and confident in their workplace. Adapting A healthcare organization does not have a rigid routine; things change, and the organization has day-to-day changes. It is essential to focus on the changes and ensure that everything runs smoothly despite the fast-paced environment. The changes, however, should be healthy and ensure the employees can follow through. They have to be provided with the proper support for the same. “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.” Shirley Garcia Auditing and Operations Administrator of Medlinks Cost Containment, Inc. and Medlinks Staffing, LLC Learn More Why is a Positive Workplace Culture Important in Healthcare? The main aim of a healthcare worker is to save a life. From a security guard to the administrator, every employee is trained to do their best to help a person be healthy and possibly save their life. A positive workplace must surround the workers despite being in a place shrouded in misery and grief. An organization with a better and positive workplace culture has a higher chance of developing better collaboration, solutions, and better patient services. The workplace culture in the healthcare industry is not so different from the corporate workplace. It is still a collection of complex values and a lot of shared beliefs More importantly, a positive workplace will build trust and confidence among the employees who provide patient services. A healthy patient who feels welcome and valued will help boost morale, and the staff must provide the necessary care. Why Avoid a Toxic Workplace Culture? Economic Cost A toxic workplace culture has a higher chance of reduced performance. It means that the economic performance of the organization can be greatly impacted. It can cause a downward spiral in the organization, affecting the employee and the care provided to the patient. It can also turn into a recession and end the organization. Trust Having a poor culture can lead to unethical behavior. Following ethical practices are very important, especially in the healthcare industry. That can lead to destroying trust, and this can also affect the patients that come in. A healthcare organization must follow ethical actions and contribute to a better society. Well being A toxic workplace can affect the employee's health, directly affecting the organization's and employees' growth. Conflict at work and harassment are just a few reasons that can affect an employee's mental and physical health. Relationships Poor culture affects the relationship between the organization and departments. A negative workplace can cause a person to go into depression or create an employee burnout because of the unhealthy environment. An organization can improve society. Simple Ways to Create a Strong Work Culture Employee Orientation - Simple things like giving a gift to a new hire, greeting, icebreaker sessions, etc. Mentorship / Guidance - To help in the guidance and for employees to receive feedback. Doesn't necessarily have to include higher authorities. Team Building - Training programs, team building activities, etc. for an efficient team. Collaboration - Games that require group engagement, like an escape room, board games, etc. provide a platform to get to know other employees. Social Events - To improve satisfaction, events like a potluck, casual Friday, happy hour, and so on can be added. Even unofficial gatherings may help. Leadership - Leadership can help keep a positive attitude, and including them can also play a huge role in a positive culture. Brainstorming - Encouraging employees to share and incorporate their ideas can help them feel more valued. It can also help promote communication. Innovative ideas - Ideas should be enforced to ensure the culture isn't stagnant and consistent improvement is required. Conclusion Encouraging a positive workplace culture is essential since a toxic and bad work environment can cause stress for the employee and the organization. It can affect the employee's growth; they require support and connection to help reduce the strain caused in the workplace. A positive workplace culture will help promote growth and create an organization with core values and beliefs that the employees follow. Try Workmates Interactive Demo Click trough it yourself withinteractive demo. Try It Now
How to Hire and Onboard Your First Remote Developer
“He who controls the spice controls the universe.” That’s the best-known quote from Frank Herbert’s Dune. Spice was the resource that enabled space travel, and as such, the universe couldn’t run without it. There’s something similar to spice in our world: software. Nothing runs without software. As such, if you own or run a business of any kind, you are inevitably going to have to hire and eventually onboard a remote developer. The good news is that — as you’ll find out in this article — it’s much easier to hire and onboard a remote developer than it is to control the spice. You don’t need to get high with the natives of a desert planet and lead a revolution against evil space nobility. Doing that would be rad, though. How To Hire a Remote Developer Whether it’s your first time hiring and onboarding a remote developer, or you already have several hires under your belt and are looking to sharpen the process, there are some points worth covering. For the uninitiated, know that hiring a remote developer doesn’t have to be an arcane pursuit. More often than not, the biggest issue is to know where to start. For the experienced, know that my business is all about remote recruitment, so while you can and should expect some bias, you can also bet that I’ve explored every hiring avenue and possibility. So, here’s what hiring a remote developer looks like: 1. Choose Where You Will Do Your Remote Hiring Because more people are hiring than ever and more people are looking for remote jobs than ever, there are dozens of alternatives all around the web. I will characterize the three primary ways you can look for a developer but realistically, know that there are many solutions in-between. First off, we have talent marketplaces. We usually associate these with freelancers, but nowadays, many of them focus on showcasing people looking for job opportunities. Talent Marketplaces essentially curate jobseeker profiles and surface the selection that better fits your criteria. The level of curation, compulsory paid services, and the how-and-what-you-actually-pay-for differs significantly from platform to platform. The thing these services have going for them is the sheer breadth of candidates on offer. Thousands of people submit their profiles every day. Talent Marketplaces are an excellent option if you have the time and energy for a grind. Their curation will only get you so far, and you are likely to have to evaluate dozens — if not hundreds — of profiles before deciding on a shortlist. You’ll also have to vet that shortlist yourself for cultural fit and soft skills. Most marketplaces do a decent job with skill vetting, but I would still do it anyway, and I’ll give you a few pointers about how to later in this article. Next up, recruitment agencies. This is the business I’m in, so I’m not going to dally here, as I would rather you read the article without being put off by the stench of blatant self-promotion. Tim Ferriss often says: “If you have the money to solve a problem, you don’t have a problem.” That’s the recruitment agency game. You pay them a nice chunk of money, and they’ll do the hard lifting for you, often with better results. Not because they are so awesome, but because that’s what they do every day. A good recruitment agency should give you a shortlist of 3-5 candidates vetted for your particular needs and culture within a couple of weeks. You should also get their commitment that if the person you select doesn’t stick to the job, they’ll try to fill your requirement again for a certain number of times, at no extra cost. Go with a recruitment agency if you are OK with trading money for time and focus. Finally, there’s your network. The “I know a guy” route can be surprisingly effective, especially if you or your company has a solid social presence. Just posting your job offer publicly won’t cut it, though. It’s much more worthwhile to reach out directly to people you know and respect in the programming field and ask if they know someone. It’s relatively easy for someone to forward your tweet or LI post to someone they only have a passing acquaintance with. That will generate a lot of unfit candidates. On the other hand, when you ask someone if they know somebody, they will think hard about it. No one wants to be the person who sent a dud your way. Of course, this method is random and very slow. It shines because it is very low-effort and comes with some social vetting built-in. I would use it in addition to one of the previous two, but not by itself. 2. Vet Candidates for Technical Skill In a perfect world, people wouldn’t lie in their CVs or applications. Hardly any people outright lie, but most people exaggerate their skill. The amount of technical vetting you’ll need to do depends on your hiring platform strategy (see above), but it’s always healthy to do some. I’ve always felt daunted by this because I’m not a technical person, so I don’t feel I’m in the position to evaluate developer skills properly. What would I look for? The answer is: look for the story. Read a candidate’s CV as you would read the synopsis for a novel, and see if it makes sense. What did their education look like? How long did they stay at each previous job? What projects do they take credit for? Can you take a look at those projects? In addition to that, do the unexpected — call their reference checks! Yes, talk to people. Most people find it very hard to embellish or lie on behalf of others in a call. I know you don’t feel like doing it, but set those feelings aside and go for it. Finally, get a technical buddy to interview you. If you already have some developers in your team, perfect. If not, grab someone you know and trust. Promise them a dinner. If you have no developer friends (really?), you have no choice but to prep. Any recruitment agency or talent marketplace worth their salt will have an extensive collection of articles about “How To Interview X Developer” where you can look up the main technical questions and what kind of answers to expect. I know, it sounds like a huge pain — and it is! But not as painful as all the wasted time and money from hiring someone unfit for the job. 3. Vet Candidates for Remote Work Skill Let me blow your mind: a great professional might still be a terrible remote worker. It’s sad but true. Working remotely demands a specific set of skills that stand apart from those required for an individual to excel at their profession. The good news is that there are a few markers that you can follow to understand if someone has the R-Factor. The first marker of an exemplary remote developer is the clarity of their written communication. In emails and messages, do they use concise sentences that nonetheless follow proper grammatical form? Does each sentence have a clear antecedent? In casual conversation at the office, “I need that thing we discussed done by ten.” is acceptable. In remote work, it is not. Lack of specificity in writing kills remote work. Hire people who write sentences that stand on their own and don’t require further clarification. Be unforgiving to anyone who can’t express themselves like that. Actively judge people based on their internet connection, microphone, and camera setup. If you work remotely, these are the tools of the trade. You wouldn’t want to work with a surgeon who doesn't wear gloves and a mask, so why would you hire someone who looks like they are part of a witness protection program? Ask them why they are interested in the position. If the main draw of the job is to pursue their digital nomad lifestyle or move back to the town where they met their childhood sweetheart, they are OUT! Sorry, but you have a business to run, and remote work requires engagement. It demands discipline to get things done. For someone whose primary reason for wanting the job is to fuel their lifestyle choices, that person won’t be engaged. To be clear, it’s fair that that is ONE of their reasons — I’d even consider that healthy. But it can’t be the first reason that pops up. Working from home, a dozen things compete for your attention, and they are often things that you love — your wife, your dog, your PlayStation 5, etc. Your job doesn’t need to beat these things — I’d argue it shouldn’t — but it needs to be competitive, at least. Finally, check whether they have a plan. A pro remote worker should have a plan for how they are going to manage their work daily. They should have a schedule, a setup, and a strategy. If they stare blankly at you when you ask them about it, or even worse, if they flat out admit they’ll just fit it around their day — run for the hi
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