As an HR professional, you're well-acquainted with the practice of onboarding. But if your company has never made doing it well a priority, you may not have a full understanding of its benefits. We'll attempt to remedy that in this blog. We'll explain why proper onboarding of new employees is so important, and how to do it effectively using the four C's approach. Let's jump in! The Importance of Onboarding First off, why doproper onboarding best practices even matter? There are many different reasons. We'll cover a few of the most prominent ones now: First Impressions Do you remember the old saying, "You never get a second chance at a first impression"? Well, it definitely rings true in the business world. Especially when new employees are first being introduced to the inner workings of a business. If your onboarding process is chaotic and outdated, new hires will assume the company isn't well-managed. They may even begin to doubt their decision to take the job. Certainly not the feeling you want new team members to have on their first day! Employee Engagement Successful employees — the kind that work hard, help move a company forward, and make the HR department that hired them look good — are engaged employees. There's no way around it. If your company's employees aren't engaged in their work, they'll produce lackluster results, and engaged employees will lead to a more productive workforce. In fact, studies show that companies that implement a structured onboarding approach produce 50% more productive employees! Engagement also increases employee retention, which directly impacts the financials of the company. Let's talk more about that: Financial Responsibility Successful onboarding directly affects a company's bottom line. As we've already mentioned; the process can elevate an organization in the mind of new hires, increase their engagement level and make them more productive. Each of these leads to more profit. Onboarding online tool can also entice workers to stay with a company longer — an important fact considering the high cost of employee turnover. Think about it, if your employees think highly of your company and are engaged in their work, they won't have much incentive to leave. The Four C's of Onboarding Can we agree on the importance of onboarding best practices? Great, now let's dive into the four C's approach. Use these techniques to improve your company's onboarding process. 1. Compliance Most companies, regardless of their stance on onboarding, cover compliance(such as I-9 compliance)when a new team member is hired. After all, it's the law. Compliance measures typically include an outline of company policies, confidentiality requirements, safety regulations, and more. These measures need to be taken, but they're also just the tip of the iceberg. The first level, so to speak. Let's move on to the second C. 2. Clarification Unfortunately, for many companies, the onboarding process begins to break down at this step. As an HR rep, you need to ensure that each of your new hires clearly understands their role in the company and what's expected of them. They need clarification. Questions to answer may range from high-level queries such as what the company's overall objective is and whom new hires should report to; to ground-level details like where to park. It's all vital to a smooth and successful onboarding experience. Download Our Free New Employee Orientation Checklist! Download Now 3. Culture Company culture is often taken for granted. Or mistaken for perks like catered lunches or unlimited time-off policies. True culture goes deeper and encompasses an organization's mission, values, the vision of the future, the way team members interact. HR departments should make culture a priority during the onboarding process and steep new hires in it from the very, very beginning. This includes the original employment ads and initial interviews; and runs through the employee's entire first few months at your company. 4. Connection For business success to be achieved, connections among employees must be made. Your staff is more than random people performing specific functions. They're teammates working together to accomplish ambitious goals. At least they should be. Create a new hire checklist to help you prepare so that when new hires arrive for onboarding,you’re ready. Foster connection by introducing new hires to their new colleagues. If there are subgroups within your company you believe align with their personality — a band of people who meet on Saturdays to perform community service, for example — arrange for an introduction to be made. If your organization has the ability, you may even want to assign a mentor to new hires, who can show them the ropes during their first couple of months on the job. Whatever you do, foster connection and communication between new employees and the rest of your company. Avoid common problems with onboarding and your company will be better for it. Put the Four C's Into Action In this blog, we covered the importance of onboarding best practices and the four C's approach to doing it effectively. We hope this information has been useful! If you can implement a system that ingrains compliance, clarification, culture, and connection into each of your new hires — and commit to it — your company will see a lot more success. It's almost inevitable. But it's not necessarily easy… That's why we've created tools to help. Our onboarding software, in particular, will help you incorporate the four C's into your process and create productive and more engaged employees, for your organization. If you have not yet tried an employee onboarding software, now is the time! Launching a Successful Onboarding Initiative The benefits of initiating an onboarding program, as discussed in our first paper on this topic, include increased retention, productivity, and job satisfaction. In order to achieve these benefits,a successful onboarding initiativewill have key components, including explaining rules and regulations, defining expectations, presenting cultural norms, and developing relationships. In each of these areas, a human resource management system (HRMS) with onboarding technology can enhance the process. Technology provides an increasingly important level of support that will help an onboarding program meet its goals. The components of an effective technology underpinning are: Task Management: Those capabilities helping to perform the administrative tasks usually using a built in series of protocols, which are step-by-step instructions with feedback. Workflows: Those capabilities providing communications, outreach, alerts, notifications, and process steps between the newly hired employee and the rest of the company (at all levels across many departments). Oftentimes, the status of each of the workflow steps is presented in a “dashboard” view.The workflow capabilitiestypically include employee self-service and manager self-service notifications. In either component, a workflow of step-by-step instructions and screen progressions pertinent to the task is important. This is especially recognized and intended to mirror the strong degree of comfort that Gen X, Gen Y and Millennials have with any online interaction. 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 Onboarding Must-Haves Rules and Regulations Explained Successful onboarding will explain the basic set of requirements, policies, and procedures a new hire will need to follow. Doing so will ensure that the new employee is abiding by legal requirements needed to succeed in the role they are assuming. An HRMS streamlines the process of explaining the appropriate rules and regulations.For example, Onboard from LIKE.TG, keeps track of I-9 and W4 forms online, complete with valid signatures. New hires can complete anonboarding checklistbefore their start date, allowing employees to participate in what is known as preboarding. Ideally, this keeps them engaged, excited and eager to begin, and of course, gives them the feeling of being a productive member of the “team” even before they start their employment on day one. For college hires this might prove valuable as there is usually a lag time of a few months from graduation to start date. With an HRMS, it’s also possible to create a portal within the company’s own website where employees can go to complete all of their administrative tasks, learn about the corporate culture, take new hire training, and find out anything else that will help them be more productive. In this manner the newly hired staff member LIKE.TG.COM takes an active role as opposed to a passive one, and takes ownership for accomplishing the required administrative tasks. Onboarding softwarekeepstrack of I-9 and W4 forms online, complete with valid signatures. Expectations Defined Onboarding does more than explain rules and regulations, it also clarifies the new-hire’s role within the organization. During onboarding, role clarity is a consistent predictor of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The better an employee understands his or her role, the more likely they will be to meet expectations. In fact, if a new-hire’s role is unclear, the organization is likely to lose money due to employees that don’t understand their roles, become disenchanted, and could likely leave in a short timeframe. An HRMS can aid in the onboarding process by setting expectations for employees. HRMS technology creates specific onboarding workflows that are triggered upon input and receipt of the initializing event, such as acceptance of the “offer letter” and agreement of the first day of employment. These can include: An e-mail message to be sent to a new employee with a “welcome letter” and instructions for using the onboarding components of the HR system. An e-mail message to be sent to other internal departments, especially internal IT, informing them of the new hire’s start date and other pertinent information needed to establish security IDs, passwords and access to specific systems, and to initiate the preparation of any devices such as laptop and phones, as needed. An e-mail to the employee with a link to a “new employee portal” which walks the new hire thru a step-by-step process of downloading and uploading a wide variety of employment information, prepares them for their first day, and streamlines their socialization to the new organization. At the same time that the above activities are taking place, the hiring manager can go online to select the tools and office space the new staff member will need. Those requests, in the form of a triggered email, with content preloaded, are sent to the information technology and facilities departments, among others, so they are ready for the employee on their first day. An effective onboarding program must seamlessly incorporate the supportive protocols mentioned above into what the newly hired staff member “experiences” in each and every contact with the organization. Cultural Norms Presented Besides explaining rules and regulations and defining expectations, onboarding, if implemented correctly, will convey the “culture” of an organization. When corporate cultural norms are conveyed correctly, new employees gain an understanding of the organization’s goals and values and hopefully begin to embrace and understand the company’s ethical and political landscape. Supporting your onboarding initiative with Onboard from LIKE.TG,allows you to communicate your organization’s mission and values while the new hire goes through theonboarding process. The most effective onboarding initiatives are within those organizations that are using the Internet to facilitate the experience and provide the new employee with corporate history, the values of the firm, and an overview of the strategy and fiscal goals. Another important component is the use of videos that can, for example, provide a “welcome” message from the most appropriate senior executive (hopefully the president or CEO) or can provide an overview of the company’s performance (possibly by the CFO). All of these tools and activities are intended to build an initial and strong foundation for engaging the new employee and hopefully instilling positive momentum, excitement, eagerness and a feeling of being an important part of the organization. These “emotions” must be reinforced by an effective program that extends over a period of time. Research shows that the most effective and considered “best practice” onboarding programs should extend over several months and not end right after any formal orientation. Relationships Are Developed The last component of successful onboarding implementation is developing relationships in order to help employees become better integrated into the company. In order to achieve integration, someonboarding programs include rotational assignments; others may include special projects that are designed to expose the new employee to parts of the company they would not normally have any contact with. There is good reason to incorporate these types of activities during a period of months after the start date as this would expose the newly hired staff member to other corporate practices, locations, culture, and colleagues. Another critical component in the relationship development process is the need to include the direct hiring manager. Research shows that the relationship with the manager is one of the most significant in an employee’s work life and directly influences the engagement and eventual longevity of the employee. Most employee turnover is ultimately caused by that relationship (or lack of), which makes the ability to assimilate new employees a core competence of managers. An employee’s direct manager typically controls all career progression, educational opportunities, and the assignment of projects. So a manager who takes time to discuss goals and expectations and in effect serves as a “mentor” who shows concern over that person’s “socialization” and who knows what the employee can do and wants to do, will make wiser decisions and build loyalty over time. Using onboarding technology from LIKE.TG can enhance relationship development by building a new hire social network and engaging the new hire in the company’s social network. If you are hiring a significant number of young employees, an online new-hire community can help them feel more at home. These corporate social networks can be used for work tasks, allowing employees to help each other get acclimated, and provide for socialization. Quantifying Onboarding ROI As we know from many sources, among them the 2017 State of the American Workplace report by Gallup, which surveyed over 195,000 employees. “51 percent of U.S. employees say they are actively looking for a new job or watching for openings.” Undoubtedly, no one would argue that this indicates a loss of engagement and can only be remedied by ensuring that newly hired staff members are highly engaged from the start, even beginning with the first moment they have contact with an organization. The majority of company leaders would agree that employee engagement is important to success, but they may not realize the direct financial impact high engagement can have. According to research, “Companies with employee engagement programs achieve 26% greater year-over-year increase in annual company revenue, compared to those who do not have formal programs.” Regarding engagement with employees specifically by their leaders, “managers who are not engaged or who are actively disengaged cost the U.S. economy $319 billion to $398 billion annually.” With numbers like these, it’s no wonder that organizations are eager to adopt onboarding techniques and employee engagement programs that will not only improve employee retention, but also improve their net revenue. The question of which techniques work best subsequently becomes incredibly important, and various research reports have pursued the answer. Aberdeen determined the following as “best-in-class” onboarding components: Forms management: collecting, tracking and managing of all internal and external new hire forms. Task management: ensuring all tasks are tracked and completed. Socialization: engaging new hires into the company culture and providing individual guidance to create an overall positive experience. The most important findings in Aberdeen’s research pertinent to determining the ROI of onboarding is this: Results that add up where it matters most: your bottom line. Calculate your possible ROI now! Calculate Now In comparing best-in-class to all other companies (“industry norm” and “laggards”), the best-in-class companies who indicated they performed a reasonable mix of both strategic initiatives to engage new hires and tactical components that will ensure they can get up to speed on day one, improved their revenue growth to a significantly greater extent than those who did not. Aberdeen found that organizations that execute on these tactical and strategic activities are able to achieve business results such as customer retention and revenue per employee. Best-in-class organizations improved customer retention by 16% and revenue per full-time employees by 17%. By implementing a program to create efficiencies and also engage new hires, best-in-class organizations also improve the business. None of this will be effective without appropriate technology, front and center. Although onboarding isn’t all about technology, it is a critical factor in creating a best-in-class initiative that will provide the end result of improved company performance. That alone makes onboarding programs a needed and strategic capability in itself and also a justifiable target for strong technology support. This white paper covered how to launch a successful onboarding initiative, including incorporating technology and measuring ROI. For additional information about how technology improves HR processes, download LIKE.TG’s white paper,“10 Ways the Cloud Improves HR Processes.” The paper includes information about how cloud-based technology benefits HR in the areas of value, finance, and risk mitigation. For further insight into what makes an effective onboarding process, read on to view ourNew Hire Checklist. New Hire Checklist Template Here is the beginning of a sample New Hire Checklist for employers. The task owner is listed in bold font and underlined. This is the person/function/team responsible for the agenda item on the onboarding checklist. Pre-Boarding 2-4 Weeks Before (or Starting from Offer Signature): Recruiting Announce Hire to Team via “Win Email” — include a new hire's email address so employees can send congratulatory emails to the new hire If applicable, run a background check HR Send onboarding welcome emails to new hires — make sure this is within 24 hours! You want to capitalize on their excitement from the recency of signing the offer Add new hire start date to the calendar and add relevant teams Onboard new hire toHRISsystem Manager Complete Hiring Manager Form — assign onboarding buddy, assign desk, assign email groups/tools provision preferences IT Order technical equipment — laptop, mouse, keyboard, monitor, etc. Provision new hire — email creation, group and access provisioning, key fob creation, etc. Pre-Boarding 2-4 Weeks Before (cont.): Manager HR Invite new hire to a team or event preceding the start date — if there is a significant amount of time between a new hire signing an offer and starting at the company, see if you can find an event for the new hire to come out and get to know the team or company in a social setting. Pre-Boarding 1 Week Before: Facilities Clean desk area Manager Begin “Road to Success” Form — outline goals and expectations desired Add new hires to any important reoccurring team meetings Setup 1:1 meetings between the new hire and any instrumental colleagues that the new hire will be closely working with Organize welcome lunch for a new hire at a local restaurant — including team members, important cross-departmental connections, or cultural champions Assign Dept/Team-specific training for new hire HR Assign company-wide training for new hire Assign a buddy to the new hire and communicate responsibilities to buddy Confirm “Week 1” schedule for a new hire — to be presented to the new hire on Day 1 Pre-Boarding 1 Week Before (cont.): HR Send First Day Details to new hire (when to arrive, who to contact, office address, etc.) Download Our Free New Employee Orientation Checklist! Download Now First Day Facilities Early in the morning, set up new hire swag on desk — let yourcompany brandingshine through! IT Place new hire laptop and tech setup on desk — include instructions in a one-pager with information on things like WiFi passwords, gaining access to work email, etc. Buddy New Hire Coffee meeting — new hire and buddy grab a welcome coffee and do an office tour (Your new hire will thank you when you teach them how the coffee machine works!) IT New Hire Meeting — Laptop setup and equipment troubleshooting. Manager New Hire New hire and manager morning meet greet — manager presents Week 1 schedule to new hire HR New Hire — Live (or Virtual)New Hire Orientation Tactical Technical Access: Confirm new hire can access all company-wide tools (HRIS,company intranet, etc.) Complete Forms: New hire completes Part 1 of I-9, W-4, direct deposit information, confidentiality agreeement, employee handbook acknowledgement, benefit elections and 401k election Present employee with theirnew employee checklist Cultural Culture Overview: Core values, mission/vision, company goals Overview onboarding contacts available to the new hire and network map of helpful persons during their first month Job Knowledge Review importance of the Road to Success Form Manager New Hire Team Welcome Lunch — new hire and pre-selected group celebrate at lunch Facilities New Hire Take photo of new hire for identification card goofy company photo wall Walk new hire to commuter lot to register for parking Manager New Hire Meeting — End-of-day catch-up with new hire First Week: New Hire Sign acknowledge company handbook Complete compliance training (anti-harassment training, etc.) Review all company policies Send new hire introduction email to company Manager New Hire New Hire “Road to Success” Meeting with manager — review Road to Success Form including 30/60/90/180 goals, expectations, and onboarding resources End-of-day catch-up meeting with new hire on Wednesday/Friday EOD Buddy New Hire Coffee meeting — casual coffee with new hire HR New Hire End-of-week check-in meeting with new hire First Month: Manager New Hire 30 Day Check-In — reflection, evaluation, realignment Continue having reoccurring 1:1 meetings to discuss performance New Hire All company-wide trainings complete All New Hires Lunch Meeting — casual lunch with all new hires only (this gives them time to bond since they are likely going through similar onboarding experience Manager Lunch Meeting — casual lunch with new hire First 3 Months: Manager New Hire 90 Day Check-In — reflection, evaluation, realignment Continue having reoccurring 1:1 meetings to discuss performance New Hire All department and team-specific trainings complete Company Quarterly New Hire Welcome Happy Hour HR Send Onboarding Survey to new hire Overview of the performance management process with new hire First 6 Months: Manager New Hire 180 Day Check-In — reflection, evaluation, realignment Continue having reoccurring 1:1 meetings to discuss performance Discuss possible growth or professional development opportunities for the new hire First Year: Manager New Hire Annual “Year in Review” — annual evaluation of the first year’s performance and growth HR Celebrate the new hire’swork anniversary! LIKE.TGhelps you enchant every employee by helping to foster social connections and company culture while saving companies time and money. We make it easy to stay compliant and automate HR responsibilities so that our customers can focus on building their companies. Create a custom,fully digital onboarding process with built-in automation using LIKE.TG’s onboard application. Click here to try our Onboard Interactive Demo. “As soon as we saw LIKE.TG’s Onboard demo, we knew this was the perfect solution for us. We loved that it was extremely simple and powerful out of the box, but that we could customize it with advanced capabilities to make it work in our company setting.” Elisa Garn Vice President, HR and Talent Christopherson Business Travel Learn More Author: This article is written by a marketing team member at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications engagement, and rewards recognition. Our user-friendly software increases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk.

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.

Work environments come in many shapes and sizes and they all depend on the superiors and teammates that are present. There are situations where your workplace can start becoming toxic due to a new teammate, a dynamic change, or even a change in workflow. Many managers choose to ignore any internal issues linked to human connections since they tend to focus solely on profits, though a burnt-out employee is as good as a missing one. Certain situations may seem like silly office drama but can easily lead to marginally larger problems down the line, which is why they should be brought to everyone’s awareness. Today we will be looking at signs to watch out for to be able to recognize whether your work is a toxic work environment or not since there can be many traits that go overlooked. Lack of communication Team members not communicating with each other is a subtle yet influential sign that your work environment is toxic. Healthy team members express themselves within the group and maybe even argue. Participation is key in a workforce and if you find yourself in a team that is extremely passive and non-verbal, it may be time to reconsider your position there. The lack of communication can also be an indicator of a lack of trust between members of a team since it creates dysfunction and results in less commitment. Aggression can also be a side-effect of distrust since it is a show of primal instinct that is not suitable for the workplace. That missing clarity leads to many failed projects and will also shape employees’ listening skills negatively. Too much communication Gossiping at the workplace is equally as unhealthy as a lack of talking since it is created from a lack of communication. Colleagues should be able to talk openly with each other and no one should be spreading rumors on others’ personal matters. The reason many workers start gossiping is often related to not being heard. Creating an open environment fixes this usually. Group separation When cliques start forming in the workplace it leads to a counterproductive dynamic within the workplace and even bullying/ workplace harassment in worse cases. These exclusions also mean that team members won’t help each other when they should, won't do nice gestures for one another, and those members may also be less productive due to chatting. Adding employee perks and having certain bonding activities all help teams not have extreme cliques. Cronyism If you start noticing a trend of only friends and acquaintances getting hired and promoted at your workplace, try to leave as soon as possible. There have been many cases of cronyism in workplaces and not only do such businesses tend to fail, but they also lack diversity. These workplaces overstep well-performing employees to just show favoritism and the lack of diversity leads to monotone, black-and-white thinking. High turnover rates If a workplace has employees constantly leaving it, there usually is something wrong with the employer or team manager since it isn’t the job employees leave but the boss. Toxic work culture is a large driving force for resignations, which is an act that takes a lot of energy, thought, and effort from the employee side. Other reasons for high turnover apart from inadequate leadership are disorganization, lack of communication, lack of opportunities, and so on. Burnout Burnout shows up in different ways depending on the individual but can be defined as a feeling of exhaustion from being overburdened. Though burnout may seem like a sign that your workplace is toxic, it can also just mean you and your workplace are not compatible. There are three main types of burnout, the first being frenetic burnout. This form of burnout portrays a person who overworks themselves in hopes of achieving some type of reward but doesn’t get it after all their efforts. The second type is overworked burnout which is when an employee completely loses all motivation due to constant extreme amounts of stress and minimal rewards. It would be a superior’s duty to make the workplace sustainable and enjoyable. Lastly, under-challenged burnout is when an employee becomes bored and the lack of challenge demotivates them from continuing at the company further and disengages them. Uncertainty When project clarity and employee boundaries are unclear, the workplace can become an isolating place where conflicts can easily arise. Having a clear structure in a workplace with certain rules and policies put in place keeps everything organized and motivates employees to have a battle plan and continue working for the company. If you’re noticing a lack of structure it may be time for you to resign unless changes are being planned. 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!

Onboarding new employees is a process that takes place at the start of employment with an organization, and it usually lasts around four weeks. To provide a healthy onboarding experience, it's essential to familiarize the new employee with their new workplace and help them to get comfortable with their new job. You can achieve the employee onboarding process by introducing them to some of your most essential practices and policies, like how you communicate with customers or how you do invoices and submit work reports. To help your new employee learn and improve their productivity as soon as possible, here are ten things you can teach them during onboarding that can create a healthy work environment. How do you efficiently train new employees? This article will look at the ten best employee onboarding practices, which is a part of the employee onboarding program that will boost employee productivity and increase retention 1. Introduce them to your team During a hiring process, when hiring a new employee, it's very important to welcome them to your team. Your culture is hugely important, so showing them what it looks like is one of their first steps into your company. Introduce them to everyone by having each of your employees share about themselves. It can help break up some ice and ensure that they feel like a genuine part of your team 2. Explain company rules When you are onboarding new hires, it's easy to get so excited about a new pair of eyes that you forget to give them some crucial information. But when you skip over giving them a clear breakdown of what is and isn't acceptable at work, you risk making your company look unprofessional—or even worse, an unsafe place to work. Make sure you have clearly outlined policies regarding both written and unwritten expectations before bringing on your new employee. And make sure everyone knows about them. Also important: Explain how to submit time-off requests or send an email request for more supplies without committing a major faux pas. 3. Make their first day memorable. On the employees’ first day, your new joiner will be excited to start working at your company. For many, that means excitement and optimism. When you're planning their first day on the job, keep those emotions in mind and design a great first experience for them. Here are some tips: 4. Give them a tour of your office. Introduce your new employee to other staff members and answer any questions they may have. You should also show them how to access different departments, where they can get help with specific tasks, and your company handbook. An organization can assign a mentor for such an activity. Your organization may also have additional protocols that you should explain, such as confidentiality or expense-reporting procedures. If you work in a physical space and your new hire is starting soon, give them a tour of their office or cubicle before they begin so they don't feel confused on their first day. Even HR professionals can also introduce new employees to office staff. 5. Explain what they need to get done first In addition to what you do as a manager, you must explain your expectations for new hires. The first 90 days are vital, and that time period should be used to teach them what they need to do before starting their job on their own. As a manager, you should provide a list of job duties and job responsibilities that a new employee should perform. Schedule at least two weekly meetings in which all of your team members share tasks for completing, whether assigning work or delegating duties. Ideally, each session will end with a checklist of who's responsible for what over the next week. Always provide an employee handbook for noting daily routines or important tasks. 6. Assign them an important task Teaching someone new to a company, department or job site isn't always easy. If your new hire's role is critical to your business, you have an even more significant challenge. Since mistakes and confusion can lead to lost time, money, and productivity (not to mention the loss of faith in your leadership), you must make sure they get up to speed quickly. 7. Spread out the paperwork Make it a habit to assign or hand over necessary paperwork when an employee is hired. They can review and sign documents when they have time to focus on them and won't be left scrambling in their first week. The same goes for welcome kits: If you send out things like company swag, checklists, or other welcome package items right off the bat, your new hires will feel supported right from day one—and more likely to work productively. 8. Start building up their relationship with you. Even though it's just a small thing, being nice is always a good idea. However, as you are helping them get started, make sure to focus on building up their relationship with you. It's important for them to feel like they can trust you and turn to you if they need anything. If they feel comfortable talking to you and know that they can always ask for help, then your first week will be all about getting them acclimated. 9. Put them in touch with other coworkers if needed. A new employee needs to get acquainted with their team as soon as possible. A great way to do that is through an effectively onboard buddy. If you have a large group, you can ask one of your established workers to act as a guide and help them learn how your office operates by teaching them tricks of their trade—and getting them acclimated in turn. So, if you want two employees who work well together to hit it off, they need to spend time together. Discuss more personal details, like their background It can be helpful to start a conversation with a new employee by addressing any questions they may have about their role, job description, and department. If you're leaving room for them to ask questions, try out a question like What are some things you want to learn more about? Be sure to make yourself available when it comes time for meetings and projects. Being accessible will set them up for success in other areas of their workday. Conclusion No matter how good they are or how much experience they have, every new employee needs cyber security training to perform well in their new job. Some of your best hires might be those that require more education. Please make sure your team and you are prepared for them by implementing these easy steps during onboarding. They'll quickly become productive and valuable members of your company. A well onboard employee can effectively contribute to the company and adopt the company’s culture easily. About Author: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is dedicated to providing powerful solutions for your HR teams and creating an exceptional employee experience. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, onboarding, and to save you valuable time!

The 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!

Every entrepreneur needs to have proper business management software to enable them to manage their businesses. HR management software makes it easy to manage all your business-related activities. But as you’ll come to find, it’s not easy trying to find an efficient HR software solution. You must evaluate the software features present in every solution before choosing one that meets your business needs. In this article, you’ll find a comparative analysis of some of the leading HR management systems in the market today. Use it to evaluate which one best meets your business needs. Read on for more. Criteria Used in Selecting the Best Vendors The following is a summary of the factors to consider when choosing HR management software: Value for Money Spent: Small businesses don’t have large budgets to splurge on HR software. The solutions recommended below are affordable or available at no cost. • User Interface (UI): User experience plays a critical role in all programs. An ideal tool should have a clean interface that is easily navigable using smartphones or PCs. • Integrations: Integrations with other business tools assists in task automation. For example, you can have an integration that links your payroll solution to your onboarding software. • Usability: Any HR tool being considered should be user-friendly. It should have good customer support and be accompanied by proper documentation. Overview of the Best HR Software for Small Business 2022 The following is a brief description of every available HR management software to showcase its noteworthy features and best use cases. Many of these tools use the SaaS business model, meaning you must pay a monthly fee to use them. 1. LIKE.TG LIKE.TG provides human resource teams with an advantage over past practices. You can use it to onboard new hires more efficiently, automate manual processes, and drive engagement, collaboration, and communication to new heights. It allows your business to perform to its potential by providing it with the tools it needs to perform its most critical goals. LIKE.TG provides your business with a competitive advantage while helping it simplify performance management. With it, you get to: Have a centralized source of feedback. • Manage performance together • Customize your questions • Allow your employees to be heard and have their issues addressed Request a FREE Demo today and join the over 500,000 small businesses already using LIKE.TG. You don’t need to provide credit card information for the Demo, which comes with unlimited customer support. 2. Gusto Gusto is the HR partner your business needs to grow and continue nurturing its team. It’s ideal for all businesses, regardless of whether you’re a startup or have started scaling fast. With it, you get modern human resource features such as: Management resources • Payroll • Hiring • Benefits All these features are located in one place. Since its launch, the system has attracted more than 200,000 users across the United States. It provides small businesses with a single system containing expert guidance to empower employees and competitive compensation tools. Pricing: $45 per month. 3. Monday.com It provides great value for small businesses as it can assist in streamlining different types of data collection processes depending on what the business needs. Monday.com comes with more than 200 pre-built templates. It’s straightforward and makes it easy to transfer your business data to its system. It has an inbuilt functionality that can allow you to upload information from existing Excel spreadsheets. Apart from fast data upload, you can also use different visual formats to look at your data. Some of these visual formats include: Gantt charts • Pie charts • Bar and line graphs Pricing: Monday.com offers a 14-day trial period. 4. RUN Powered by ADP RUN Powered by ADP HR solution assists in making your payroll easy and quick. It’s backed by a robust technology offering a streamlined process, which ensures that your small business gets to complete its payroll in no time. With RUN, you can choose from basic payroll to a complete suite having all the HR tools and services needed to run a business. With its payroll features, your small business gets to: Process payroll from the office or on the move • Calculate, pay and deduct taxes automatically • Receive automated quarterly and annual reports • Remain ahead of state and federal taxes • Keep ahead of human resource regulations with automatic updates for all the 50 states • Enjoy peace of mind with round the clock customer support • Integrate time tracking with payroll Pricing: This information is not publicly available. 5. Open HRMS Open HRMS is an open-source human resource software with tons of valuable features for startups and other small businesses. Its inbuilt features will assist you in managing appraisals, attendance, payroll, transfers, and vacation time. You’ll like the fact that its creators have organized this tool in modules allowing you to customize the solution according to your business needs. It ensures that you won’t get bogged down with unnecessary functions. The best part about Open HRMS is that you can add new features as they become necessary. As an open-source tool, you’re at liberty to download it, install it in the company services, and use it for free. Pricing: Free 6. BambooHR BambooHR is a renowned Software-as-a-Service company that provides online human resource systems for use by both small and medium-sized enterprises. It’s ideal for businesses that have surpassed or outgrown spreadsheets. The Cloud-based solution provides an affordable way for growing businesses to keep track of and manage employee data in a customized HR system. With BambooHR, your HR managers will have more time on their hands to execute the more meaningful tasks. Pricing: It offers a limited trial period. 7. Bitrix24 Bitrix 24 is a free web-based human resource system intended for use by small businesses. The solution packs lots of features ideal for companies that don’t have a large in-house team to manage their needs. Its top features include:• Document management• Time and work attendance features• Employee directory The self-service portal is one of the features you’ll easily fall in love with, as employees can use it to access various human resource functions. What’s more, they can do so without physically contacting the HR team. For example, you can use it to set up different workflows for business trip permissions and vacation requests. Its core features are available for free, and they may be all that your small business needs to function. Companies that require dedicated human resource features may need to update their accounts. Please note that all plans come with unlimited users. Bitrix24 provides a small bonus for SMBs using their portal. Pricing: Free and paid versions start at $159 per month. 8. Start building up their relationship with you. Even though it's just a small thing, being nice is always a good idea. However, as you are helping them get started, make sure to focus on building up their relationship with you. It's important for them to feel like they can trust you and turn to you if they need anything. If they feel comfortable talking to you and know that they can always ask for help, then your first week will be all about getting them acclimated. 9. Put them in touch with other coworkers if needed. A new employee needs to get acquainted with their team as soon as possible. A great way to do that is through an effectively onboard buddy. If you have a large group, you can ask one of your established workers to act as a guide and help them learn how your office operates by teaching them tricks of their trade—and getting them acclimated in turn. So, if you want two employees who work well together to hit it off, they need to spend time together. Discuss more personal details, like their background It can be helpful to start a conversation with a new employee by addressing any questions they may have about their role, job description, and department. If you're leaving room for them to ask questions, try out a question like What are some things you want to learn more about? Be sure to make yourself available when it comes time for meetings and projects. Being accessible will set them up for success in other areas of their workday. Conclusion Every small business needs to have a form of human resource. While you don’t need to employ a dedicated team, you’ll need someone who can find and onboard new personnel, process payroll, and manage your employees. Human resource solutions can significantly simplify all these activities. As seen above, there are many tools to choose from; all you need to do is find a tool that meets your business requirements. The right tool will guide you on employment law and compliance. About Author: Greg Tuohy is the Managing Director of Docutec, a business printer (mostlymultifunction printers) and office automation software provider. Greg was appointed Managing Director in June 2011 and is the driving force behind the team at the Cantec Group. Immediately after completing a science degree at UCC in 1995, Greg joined the family copier/printer business.

An organization is nothing without its employees. Hence, handling them with care is the most essential and crucial task for the HR department. Companies are always on the hunt for the best HR software to have a competitive advantage. Plus, they opt for the best employee engagement model to motivate employees. “Our idea of what constitutes human nature necessarily changes with new scientific discoveries, methods, and theories.” Dieter Steklis A constant new approach towards improved employee engagement is a competitive advantage to keep up with the newly accepted engaged workforce. Today, employees are the tangible assets of any organization because nobody can achieve their objective without an efficient and devoted team. As a competitive advantage, owners take employee engagement programs much more seriously than before to motivate employees. After the pandemic, many businesses have accepted the idea of flexible workplaces as a part of improved employee engagement. This real-time challenge has become tougher to deal with because of the various engaged workforce in the market. Hybrid is the future, as many believe! The motive of this article on our website is to explain some strategies for employee engagement and the positive impact of employee engagement as a competitive advantage for the new age working models with a quality employee experience. What is employee engagement? Employee engagement encourages employees to work with complete dedication by engaging in activities, mentionable appreciations, rewards, tokens of appreciation, etc. Thus, these are known as strategies for employee engagement to strengthen employee experience. Source: https://www.aihr.com/wp-content/uploads/employee-engagement-metrics-social.png Employee engagement has become a vital tool to stay in the market to motivate employees. Numerous companies conduct special employee engagement programs to know employees closely to provide a better work environment. The new-age working models create a competitive advantage to demand consistent and improved employee engagement patterns. What makes improved employee engagement a substantial detail for employee experience? Increase in retention: Real-time competitive culture in every industry keeps the administrative group on its toes to produce a new level of employee experience. Attract, engage and maintain: These are three primary targets for the Human Resource Department. A company can only meet several targets if the managing partners understand the importance of improved employee engagement as a competitive advantage for an engaged workforce. With a better understanding of it, any company can maintain its highly experienced employees in real-time. Healthy and easily adaptable employee engagement programs can pull more employees and retain them for a prolonged time. Finer productivity: Every employee has a subjective take on professional life and the method of working. Thus, it becomes prominently smoother for any company to increase their competitive advantages by satisfying their employees' reasonable desires as strategies for employee engagement. Good employee experience is vital to make employees feel welcome at work and produce an engaged workforce that supports them in a constructive mindset. Employee engagement programs ensure that employees aren't overwhelmed with work and provide them enough downtime to recharge in real-time. Quality results: This is the most dominant and unavoidable part of the employee engagement model to motivate employees. Money cannot buy passion! Owners need to invest in worthy strategies for an engaged workforce to promote a passionate work attitude. Specific employee engagement programs invest money into quality workers to express their gratitude and loyalty to the organization. These can be monetary gifts, holidays, vouchers, travel, etc., to motivate employees. Such positive incentives in the employee engagement model can uplift an employee's performance, transform into better products and services, convert to higher customer satisfaction, and upgrade the company's market value. The result is a commendable profit margin in improved employee engagement. How to strengthen employee engagement for the new age working Models? These days, holding onto employees in real-time has become challenging considering the varied working models. Multiple companies keep updating their employee engagement model to exhibit their confidence and trust. Constant upgrade in office culture to motivate employees: Optimization of a variety of engaged workforce (E.g., Remote work, office work, hybrid system) has made retention of employees much more complicated. But it is a tremendous competitive advantage and a business move. According to the situation, employers are attentive to creating strategies for employee engagement. As a result, the employee experience in the company is one of the factors that keeps asking for change for better results. Updated employee engagement models help increase productivity, maintain/increase turnover, retain/pull employees, enhance market value, etc., according to the real-time trend and needs. Keep in touch: Because of the vivid workforce, communication has become the most potent tool in employee engagement programs because not everyone is working from the office. A consistent, engaged workforce with the employees is the only way to master remote working. Today, due to various platforms, every member of an organization can stay in touch with each other via audio call, video call, mail, text message, etc., while working from different locations. Audio and video calls leave a lasting effect on employees and make the connection more robust, especially for the WFH model. Numerous companies opted for fun video call interactions, such as showing your WFH space to build better bonds between the team members as strategies for employee engagement. As mentioned in a survey, productivity increased by 50%, and more than 80% of people felt connected with their colleagues due to video calls and enhanced employee experience. Provide a space for growth to motivate employees: One of the top-most reasons employees switch their jobs is to learn something new or take a sabbatical. As per the survey of the Sitel group, numerous employees would leave their current jobs if they don’t provide formal training to learn something new to be updated with the market. Today, sabbaticals are becoming more and more common, and there is a huge talk about “Great Resignation.”. Besides, pandemic and hybrid model culture encouraged many people for sabbatical for multiple reasons like self-healing, productive break, travel, etc. Hence, many companies add sabbatical programs to motivate employees to feel free to explore the world in the safety of their jobs as a part of strategies for employee engagement. Realistic constant engagement: One of the primary targets of employee engagement programs is to develop team player spirit for employees that work from home to offer a better employee experience. Usually, such activities are followed by valuing employees for their dedication and hard work. It results in higher self-esteem and self-worth in employees, producing pure morale, loyalty, and efficient work efforts in real-time. Moreover, the teams work more collaboratively with outstanding professional bonds even when they aren't under the same roof. As a result, it creates a lively and engaged workforce that motivates quality outcomes in every aspect. Additionally, strategies for employee engagement are to level up the labor force and bring positive changes to a firm for a better employee experience. Thus, it is a two-way street in improved employee engagement programs. Motivate employees by adapting new activities or skills in real-time: The world keeps changing, and industries as per real-time market and demand. Knowledge is never wasted, no matter how small or big it is! A company's human resource strategies work well when its improved employee engagement model focuses on real-time expanding skills and knowledge rather than purely paying attention to onboarding new talents. Multiple improved employee engagement programs include off-beat activities that might look simple and fun but significantly impact employees' mindset and brain functionality, such as mind games, music shows, sports activities, etc. These activities also bring healthy competition and increase the involvement of employees in every engaged workforce. Hence, workers highly appreciate such interactive and productive strategies for employee engagement. To conclude Flexible workplace culture has undoubtedly brought many benefits to employee experience. However, it is up to skillful management teams to fully lay down their improved employee engagement strategies so that everyone can get competitive advantages. Employee engagement programs should keep evolving as per the real-time plan of various businesses to motivate employees. Employers should keep their workforce model in mind while planning for a robust employee engagement model. 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!

Onboarding is a mandatory procedure to introduce the newly hired employees or teams to the organization, its services, and product. Using AI all throughout the onboarding is becoming more common. Two important facts to consider about AI-embedded solutions in the onboarding process include the following: AI can accelerate document exchanges, talent acquisition, and analyze feedback by newly hired employees. AI-powered processes such as gamification and cognitive analysis will always need the human touch. Stability in the job market is immensely dependent on hiring and onboarding processes that run smoothly. There are still several uses of smart, process-expediting AI in human resources that aren't yet foolproof like in many other fields. This blog article will discuss how AI is revamping the onboarding process for HR and how automation increases productivity and efficiency for both the new hires and the recruiters. But first, let's talk about… The Role of AI in HR AI is reshaping how industries and organizations operate across sectors, including their hiring procedure. Several ways AI is streamlining talent acquisition today involve: Sourcing and engaging candidates Applicants’ assessment Involvement and onboarding of employees An organization’s onboarding methods majorly impact a business's success. A recent report by Glassdoor stated that a strong onboarding practice could upgrade new hire retention by 82%. It can also lead to improved productivity by up to 70%. AI is revamping several industries and sectors within our economy. And it can be said that AI plays a crucial role in workplace efficiency and optimal use of resources. AI is speedily growing to the point where recruiting and talent acquisition, evaluation, and people placement at organizations is being largely handled by AI, machine learning, and especially supervised learning techniques. Applications of AI in HR AI helps HR departments to improve employee or candidate experience by automating low-value, repetitive tasks and frees up their time to focus on creative and strategic work that HR teams usually desire and require. Instead of spending time supervising every step of the latest employee onboarding procedure, AI can smartly automate those steps. Here are some examples of AI applications in HR: Talent acquisition and onboarding Talent acquisition is one of the most significant tasks of the HR department as hiring skilled and talented individuals will cause the potential growth of the organization. From screening to maintaining databases of the applicants, arrangement of interviews, and addressing and adjudicating contestant queries, AI decreases the time and effort needed to complete these tedious tasks. Orientation and onboarding of new employees Employees are more likely to stay long-term with the company if the onboarding process is well-organized and instructive. All of the questions that new hires might have can be answered by AI for HR, saving time for employees who would otherwise have to do it manually. Artificial intelligence in human resources enables the separation of tasks and the customization of procedures to meet the specific needs of individual employees. Other vital activities, such as verifying legal papers, can also be handled by artificial intelligence. Training the new hires AI can automatically comprehend and allocate training to the employee based on the evaluation of papers and tests. For improved growth of employees, AI offers relevant skillset information based on their job descriptions. Recruiters may discover employees' training needs by using AI in HR systems. Using this method, employees' engagement and productivity will be improved, and they will be able to learn particular programs and skills more quickly and efficiently. Employee experience enhancement With a higher level of automation and a primary focus on good customer experience across the environment, employees usually expect a constructive and useful experience when they join a company with personalized engagement. Consumer technology is already influencing employee experiences, and as a result, employees are looking for new ways to be involved and supported in their work. By creating a more tailored employee experience, AI may be used throughout the employee lifecycle, from recruitment and onboarding to career pathing and HR service delivery. You might be surprised to know that 20% of freshly hired employees leave the organization within the first 45 days of their employment. Thus, human resources departments can now measure employee engagement and job satisfaction with greater precision than ever before using employee appreciation programs and tailored feedback questionnaires. Top 6 ways AI is Reinventing the Onboarding Process for HR Smart technology adoption is significantly changing workplaces, even if artificial intelligence was originally believed as a science fiction concept by the majority of technology specialists. Using AI in human resources processes improves organizational efficiency because these apps can evaluate, anticipate, and diagnose in order to aid HR professionals in making wise decisions. Only 32% of employees in past years used artificial intelligence in the workplace. 50 percent of employees will be adopting AI in their jobs by 2020. Employees are optimistic, excited, and joyful about the prospect of working alongside machines (65 percent), and over a quarter feel they have a positive working relationship with artificial intelligence (AI). Here are the top 6 ways how AI is reinventing the employee onboarding practices in HR: Smart digital forms for applicants’ biodata Smart digital forms allow you to gather, validate, and incorporate data with the business system. The availability of important information helps streamline processes, reduce costs, and make wise decisions. These smart digital forms are easy to design and modify by anyone without technical or programming skills. They provide accurate data. The real-time data entry eliminates the need to enter data manually, thus the risk of mistakes and data loss reduces. Companies use AI to assist applicants shift their personal information to smart digital forms from their resumes and submitting applications faster. Human Capital Management AI is playing a vital role in incorporating major HR functions thus overhauling the whole pedigree of workers’ experience. It is aiming to developing talent processes to minimize employee turnover and handle major areas like workforce planning, performance management, career-pathing, people analytics and virtual assistance. Allows new employees faster integration Onboarding can be rushed, and employees may be hesitant to ask questions because of this. AI can be helpful making these activities less stressful and more engaging. For example, chatbots can be used to address queries regarding remote-work or leave policies that a new employee might otherwise be uneasy asking on their day one. If AI can address their queries, new hires can start feeling more at home in the company even before their official start date. Generally, this should be done by gamification to make it more fun and interactive. However, the human factor of onboarding must not be forgotten by HR in the rush to implement more efficient and straightforward processes. Joining a new organization usually brings a massive change in an individual's life, so if you make the onboarding process simple without making that individual feel welcomed, you may ostracize the newly hired person inadvertently. Employee referrals Employee referral programs benefit from AI's analysis of the types of employees referred to them and its knowledge of who refers the most productive employees. AI can determine when successful employees recommend applicants similar to them based on past performance data. Key takeaways Machine learning and AI are speedily becoming mainstream technologies and transforming the trajectory of HR. This has changed the way people communicate with technology. Employee productivity can be substantially improved with AI-based HR interventions, and HR professionals can improve employee experience and performance. Using AI-enabled solutions in HR, key stakeholders may analyze, forecast, and make smarter choices. Achieve your business's goals by integrating AI technologies that work with your organization‘s culture. The AI function will have a variety of effects on employees in the long run, and they will be able to say that they have benefited from a fast-paced and reliable user experience. Because of this, it is critical to prioritize the requirements of employees and be clear about the desired goals. HR data privacy is also a massive challenge in deploying AI. Employee data must be protected and proper governance guidelines must be set up for administering AI-driven HR interventions. In addition to technological and data entry issues, the guidelines should also cover a wide range of legal issues. 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.

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!

What makes a workplace a place of work? Is it the location, the office building, the equipment, or the amenities? No, it’s the people that determine both the quality of the workplace and the future of the organization. In a 2017 study by Gallup, it was found that only 15% of the world’s one billion workers are engaged at work. It’s a downward spiral that originates with our lack of understanding of human capital management, or more specifically, employee engagement. The more engaged employees, the better it is for the organization. With effective employee engagement ideas, employees are motivated to give their best, resulting in higher profitability, better customer retention, better talent acquisition and retention, lower employee turnover, and a safer work environment. But remember: An effective employee engagement strategy is not a one-day affair. Only an ongoing process will obtain incredible results. No credit card needed Less than 5 min to set up What is Employee Engagement? Employee engagement sounds simple but goes deep. A good employee engagement strategy improves the likelihood that the relationship between the employee and the organization will be positive in nature. Engaged employees: Are self-motivated Have a clear understanding of their roles Recognize the significance of their contribution Focus on future training and development Feel that they belong to a community—that is, the organization The Benefits of an Engaged Workforce Effective employee engagement results in more motivation and better job satisfaction, and thus, a lower cost-to-value ratio for your human personnel expenditure. It goes like this: While every employee adds to the bottom line, engaged employees add that much more. This idea, also known as the service-profit chain, was introduced by Harvard researchers in the 1990s that traces business profitability and customer loyalty right back to engaged, motivated employees. Top corporate leaders know that engaged employees can help raise productivity, increase profits, enhance customer experience, foster brand loyalty, and facilitate growth. The Best Employee Engagement Strategies Below, you’ll find an outline of the steps you can take in order to ensure that the employees achieve a positive emotional connection with the organization and the work they’re assigned to do. In essence, there are three main parts: Physical: The level of complexity of work corresponds to the employees’ skill set. Emotional: Employees understand the job’s significance and put their heart into it. Mental: Employees become engrossed with their work. 1. Hire With Engagement in Mind The decisions you make during the hiring process can lead to different results in the engagement of an individual employee as well as workforce engagement across the organization. Every new hire you make has the possibility to impact how employees interact with each other, either strengthening the values of your organization or detracting from the work culture. A successful hire occurs when a new employee aligns with the organization in many different aspects, including job details as well as the company’s overall culture. Salary: Your new employee’s salary expectations should match what the company can unfailingly offer. Values: Your new hire should respect how the organization operates to attain its goals. Competency: The new hire should have the skills to meet the responsibilities of the position. Culture: The new hires should possess personal and emotional skills to be on the same page with their new colleagues and management. This doesn’t just impact current employees; new hires should be adequately prepared for their new positions, too. According to a Jobvite survey, 43% of new hires leave their jobs in the first 90 days as they felt that the role described during the process of hiring wasn’t what they experienced when they began to work. Your newest employees will evaluate their experience more carefully during the initial few weeks with your business. If you are able to provide what you promised during the hiring process, it will deepen that initial good impression and make way for employee engagement. 2. Streamline Onboarding Developing a comprehensive onboarding program can be a powerful way to improve employee engagement and support the success of new hires. A good onboarding program should: Introduce new hires to the company's mission, values, and culture: Help new hires understand the company's purpose and how they fit into the organization. Orient new hires to the organization: Provide an overview of the company's structure, processes, and systems. Connect new hires with resources and support: Ensure that new hires have access to the resources and support they need to be successful, such as training materials, a mentor, or a go-to person for questions. Provide opportunities for socialization: Help new hires get to know their coworkers and build relationships within the organization. Set clear expectations: Communicate expectations around performance, attendance, and other aspects of the job. Assess progress and provide feedback: Regularly check in with new hires to assess their progress and provide feedback to help them succeed. Your new hires are only learning to navigate the complexity and will need assistance in specific areas. Thus, your first step should be to understand their viewpoint and work towards offering an onboarding experience that will keep them engaged. According to data from ServiceNow, organizations that offer inadequate onboarding programs have twice the chance of facing employee turnover. The first impression is crucial and will have a significant impact on new employees’ expectations. 3. Clarify the Company's Mission By making the mission a central part of the corporate culture, employees are more likely to feel aligned with the company's goals and motivated to contribute to its success. When employees know the overarching goals and values of the organization, they can see how their individual roles contribute to larger objectives. To effectively communicate the company mission, management should integrate it into all aspects of the workplace, from onboarding sessions and training programs to regular team meetings and company communications. Leaders should consistently emphasize and relate back to the mission in daily interactions and decision-making processes, helping employees connect their tasks to the company's broader goals. Additionally, creating opportunities for employees to engage directly with mission-related projects or community initiatives can reinforce their commitment and understanding of the company's purpose. 4. Set SMART Goals and an Action Plan Without any goals, an organization doesn’t have a direction to follow. What does it want to achieve? What does it need to improve? What is the role of the strategy? All these questions need to be answered first. Moreover, the goals that you set need to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely—that is, S.M.A.R.T. With tangible outcomes in mind, managers will be able to properly execute the strategy and figure out whether it is following the expected results or not Once the particular goals are in place, prepare an action plan on how to attain them. At this stage, the allocation of resources and definition of key performance indicators (KPIs) are taken care of to facilitate the measurement of progress. The effectiveness of the action plan is the responsibility of the direct supervisors. Employee engagement rates soar when they distribute the results and propose future endeavors. One of the ways to ensure this is to let your employees know how significant their contribution is. There are different ways on how to do staff recognition. Tell them how it is helping in achieving the organization’s business objectives. Simply speaking, organizations need to start making their employees feel that they matter. 5. Be People-Centric Employees are not robots; they are human. Organizations that tend to see employees as a commodity, but your employees are not another factor of production. They are prospective champions of your organization’s values and principles. Companies can become more people-centric by prioritizing employee well-being and development at the core of their business strategies. Actively listen to employee needs and feedback, providing comprehensive support systems like mental health resources, career development opportunities, and flexible working conditions. 6. Create an Office Environment Conducive to Work Giving employees a space that enhances productivity and satisfaction involves ensuring that all employees have the necessary tools, information, and training to perform their jobs effectively. First, the physical workspace should be designed to promote focus and efficiency. This means organizing workstations to minimize noise and distractions, providing ergonomic furniture, and ensuring that the office is well-lit and temperature-controlled. Adequate technology and resources, such as high-speed internet, modern computers, and effective communication tools, should be readily available to all team members. Second, maintain an open line of communication where employees can easily access the information they need and feel comfortable requesting additional support. This can be facilitated through a well-structured intranet, regular team meetings, and clear documentation of workflows and policies. 7. Offer Remote and Flexible Work Offering flexible work hours can be a powerful way to improve employee engagement and foster a positive work culture. Here are a few benefits of offering flexible hours: Improved work-life balance Increased productivity Greater employee retention Improved morale There are a few different ways you can offer flexible work hours, such as allowing employees to choose their own work schedule within certain parameters, offering flexible start and end times, or allowing employees to work remotely. 8. Promote a Strong Company Culture By prioritizing a positive and inclusive company culture, organizations can create a workplace where employees feel valued and inspired to contribute their best work. A strong company culture is built on clear values that are actively practiced and integrated into every aspect of the organization, from hiring practices to day-to-day operations and decision-making processes. Management should lead by example, embodying the company's values in their actions and communications. Regularly celebrating achievements that align with these values, such as teamwork, innovation, or customer service, can reinforce their importance. Additionally, creating opportunities for employees to connect with one another, such as team-building activities, social events, and collaborative projects, strengthens interpersonal relationships and fosters a supportive community. Lastly, encouraging open communication and feedback through town hall meetings, suggestion boxes, and regular check-ins can help maintain transparency and ensure that the culture evolves in a way that continues to meet the needs of its employees. 9. Establish a Sense of Community An organization is essentially a community; each member fulfills a specific task and serves the community as a whole. To encourage this community spirit among your employees, any engagement activity can help, from organizing a big annual event to simply taking a team out to lunch. Notwithstanding the hierarchy of the organization, it’s better to maintain a certain level of equality and unbiasedness where everyone feels they are important to the community. This philosophy is typical in the new-age technology startups where they adopt a more casual, no-walls organizational policy. Though sustaining this new business approach might be tricky, it can lead to highly engaged staff. 10. Recognize Employee Contributions Two out of three employees feel they do not get enough recognition for their work, according to Office Team data reported by Forbes. As a result, most employees will not deliver their maximum potential and may engage in unwanted behavior. And highly-trained and qualified talent will always be looking for better job offers. For this reason, it’s wise to create a recognition-rich environment where good work is rewarded with perks and incentives. At the very least, a few good words and a certificate of appreciation can go a long way in letting others feel valued for their work. 11. Invest in Career Development For many, just coming to the office, doing the work assigned, and taking the paycheck back home isn’t enough. They need to know there are sufficient growth prospects for the role they are fulfilling. If your employees feel that you don’t care about their professional development, they may begin to look for work elsewhere. Whether it’s by running a proprietary training program or sponsoring higher education for your employees, you are not only investing in the future of your company but also creating a sense of loyalty among your employees. Remember, every employee loves a company that supports them in their professional career and adds value to their personal lives. Want to retain top-notch talent in your organization? Ensure their professional growth and you will reap the benefits. Providing opportunities for employee development can be a powerful way to improve employee engagement and drive better outcomes for your business. Here are a few strategies you might consider: Offer training and development programs: Workshops, seminars, or online courses help employees learn new skills or advance their careers. Encourage continuous learning: Learning opportunities outside of formal training programs can include attending conferences, participating in webinars, or taking online courses. Set up mentorship programs: Match employees with experienced mentors who can provide guidance and support as they learn and grow. Provide opportunities for career advancement: Offer opportunities for employees to take on new challenges and responsibilities, such as leading a team or taking on a new role within the organization. Promote self-directed learning: Encourage employees to take ownership of their own development by providing them with resources and support to pursue their own learning goals. 12. Hire Quality People Managers Your secret weapon to spur employee engagement is the managers—they are the middlemen between boardroom members and the employees. In most cases, the employees interact with the top-level executives rarely, if ever, but have daily interactions with their immediate bosses. Whether they are feeling secure, angry, or ignored depends on how you manage employees. Gallup’s chairman, Jim Clifton, once said: “Employees—especially the stars—join a company and then quit their manager. It may not be the manager's fault so much as these managers have not been prepared to coach the new workforce.” While organizations can choose to educate their managers on how to better engage their employees, it’s always better to hire a capable manager first. Check their professional background and try to see if they are suited for the tricky job waiting for them. 13. Introduce Team-Building Activities Team-building activities can be a great way to improve employee engagement and foster a positive work culture. Here are a few ideas for team-building activities that you might consider:Trust-building exercises: Some of the examples include "Human Knot" or the "Trust Fall."Communication challenges: Activities that require team members to communicate effectively can help improve collaboration.Problem-solving activities: Examples might include "Escape the Room" or "Mars Mission."Outdoor activities: Getting team members out of the office can help them bond and have fun together. It can include a team hiking or camping trip, or a group outing to a ropes course or other adventure activity.Creative activities: This can be in the form of painting or art competitions, singing and dancing events, etc.It's important to choose activities that are appropriate for your team and that align with your goals for employee engagement. 14. Provide Incentives for Work Achievement Incentives can be a powerful tool for motivating and engaging employees. Here are a few ideas for incentives that you might consider Monetary rewards: bonuses, pay raises, and other financial incentives Time off: offering additional vacation days or flexible work arrangements Recognition: publicly recognize and praise employees for their hard work or send a hand-written note Professional development opportunities: training programs, mentorship opportunities, or professional certification courses. Special perks: reserved parking spot or a choice of office location Another option: a recognition and employee rewards solution, like Workmates. Our solution is customizable and offers a unique set of advantages, as an ideal recognition solution. Workmates increase employee engagement and boost productivity in the workplace. Workmates Self-Guided Tour We’ll show you how Workmates can engage everyone in your organization, transform your culture, and drive productivity to new heights. Start Now 15. Encourage Collaboration Encouraging collaboration can be a powerful way to improve employee engagement and drive better outcomes for your business. Here are a few strategies you might consider: Encourage employees from different departments or teams to work together on projects or tasks. This can help break down silos and foster a sense of teamwork. Encourage employees to share ideas and feedback with one another, and create a culture where it's safe to speak up and share perspectives. Host team-building activities or outings that encourage employees to get to know one another and work together in a more relaxed setting. Encourage a culture of collaboration and teamwork by recognizing and rewarding team contributions and successes. Utilize tools like project management software, virtual meeting platforms, and online collaboration spaces to make it easier for employees to work together and share ideas. 16. Facilitate Two-Way Communication Top business leaders generally believe in the open door policy and do not use “top-secret” information to their advantage. If organizations act secretive and only divulge information on a “need-to-know” basis, it will likely cause lower engagement rates among their employees. Transparency begets trust when employees understand how corporate decisions affect the workplace. But simply disseminating information isn’t enough. Communication should go two ways—the employees should be encouraged to share their concerns so they don’t feel ignored or unvalued. Here are a few strategies that can help your organization: Create a culture where it's safe for employees to share their ideas, concerns, and feedback. This might involve setting aside dedicated time for open discussions or establishing a suggestion box where employees can anonymously share ideas. Encourage employees to communicate openly and honestly with one another and with management. This might involve creating dedicated channels for communication, such as a team chat platform or a suggestion forum. Be open and transparent with employees about company goals, plans, and challenges. Regularly solicit feedback from employees and actively listen to their ideas and concerns. This might involve hosting team meetings or one-on-one conversations with employees. As a leader, model open and honest communication by being approachable and transparent in your own communication style. 17. Utilize HR Software Implementing HR software can be a powerful way to improve employee engagement and streamline HR processes. Here are a few ways that HR software can support employee engagement: HR software can help automate and streamline HR processes, such as payroll, benefits management, and time and attendance tracking. This can help reduce the administrative burden for HR staff and free up more time for engagement and development efforts. Many HR software platforms offer features such as team chat, task management, and document sharing, which can help facilitate communication and collaboration among employees. HR software can provide employees with access to self-service tools, such as a portal for viewing and updating personal information or requesting time off. This can help empower employees and improve their overall experience with HR. Some HR software platforms offer tools for setting and tracking performance goals, which can help employees stay focused and motivated. Many HR software platforms offer features such as learning management systems, which can help employees access training materials and track their progress. 18. Conduct Employee Surveys Circulate questionnaires and surveys that permit your employees to express their opinions and concerns. The more you ask for their opinions, the more they feel esteemed, entitled, respected, and like they belong to the organization. Conduct the survey in such a way that it will yield the most thoughtful, timely responses. The catch here is to keep the surveys short and conduct frequent employee-pulse surveys. This lets employees think properly and reply at a higher rate. Additionally, it’s a great idea to build a habit of transparency and share the results. Sharing all the data collected from surveys will demonstrate transparency and help you to engage employees. 19. Engage Departing Employees Offer appropriate transparency when offboarding an employee. Each will have their own reasons why they depart. The appropriate details provided by the team members when they depart can aid the rest of the employees in processing the change without making cynical guesswork. Apart from that, recognize your employees’ reasons why they are leaving voluntarily. When you understand and categorize the reasons employees leave, it will help your organization to improve. If any engaged employees are leaving voluntarily, stay connected with them. You can consider curating alumni networks to be in contact with past employees. It will give you access to expanded networking and employment opportunities. Plus, it might make some employees come back to your organization with new skills and experiences when new positions open up. Try Workmates Interactive Demo Click through it yourself withinteractive demo. Try It Now About the 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!

Employees play a huge role in taking your business to new heights. Unless you are paying more attention to the well-being and performance of your employees, you won't be able to decide whether things need improvement within the organization. Managing employees already working with your organization is often an uphill task. Managing employees you’ve hired recently could be even more daunting. Hence, the need is to focus on improving the engagement of employees during onboarding programs. Are you adopting satisfying methods to improve engagement? Your hired employees may not feel connected with the organization or experience a tough and impolite company culture on the very first day. In any such instance, you cannot expect all of them to stay with your company and deliver performance with utmost dedication and passion. Several studies have already revealed that most organizations lose 60% of new employee strength within the first week of recruitment. The prime reason for such a dramatic loss is the lack of appropriate measures for improving the engagement of your employees. Employee engagement and its importance Employee onboarding consists of multiple stages like recruitment, document verification, interview, orientation, etc. At each stage, you have to devise different strategies so that the outcomes are satisfactory and as per the expectations. However, it would be unfair to expect new employees to respond positively if you do not give them any reason to stay with your company. This is where the concept of improving engagement comes into play. Benefits of employee engagement Here are some of the significant benefits you can enjoy with engaged new hires. Succeeding in engaging your employees can help them give their best. This will, in turn, increase your business's overall performance and productivity. With employee engagement principles in the sales department, you notice an increase in revenues over time. To ensure that your employees are loyal to the organization, they find interest in your company and have formed a deeper connection. Another significant benefit of improving the engagement of your new employees is the reduction in absentee records. How bad employee engagement influences your business Most people do not focus on improving the engagement of their employees, which bars them from realizing the effects it can have on their business. With no engagement from the employee side, your revenues and sales will suffer significantly. Owing to lesser employee engagement, your organization is likely to reach the point of stagnation. You won’t receive the desired returns, which will further impact your business’s profits and popularity in the market. Poor employee engagement will also affect your client or customer base, albeit indirectly. Improving engagement of new employees Giving a speech or arranging workshops alone could drag new hires. Improving engagement requires a decent amount of planning and execution efforts to see any significant changes. Here are some of the best ways you can plan to provide the best onboarding experiences and boost their engagement, 1. Make a connection between recruitment and onboarding It would be good to establish a connection between recruitment and onboarding processes. For example, if you can make the candidates feel at ease during the interview rounds, you can do the same during onboarding. This will give your new employees a reason to trust your organization. 2. Provide a heart-warming welcome on the first day Another way you can improve employee engagement is by arranging a heartfelt welcome program. During the event, you can plan for an ice-breaking session where the employees interact with each other for better cultural and social relationships. You can arrange for some fun activities also to keep them at ease. These ideas will help reduce the brooding anticipation and overwhelming feeling, thereby helping your new hires feel relaxed. 3. Ease the initial training hassles The initial eLearning and workshops can put your new employees in a tough spot. You cannot expect them to excel in everything, and if you make this initial step harder, they will soon start to feel suffocated. As a result, their performance will automatically decline, and you won’t be able to make them feel comfortable. Besides, suppose they start to fear your business ops, organizational policies, and way of working from the very first day. In that case, they will be far from exhibiting their best performance or dedication to their day on the job. 4. Introduce an instantaneous feedback system Lastly, you can create a feedback system to improve your employees' engagement. This way, your employees can easily explain their concerns and the reasons for their satisfaction and happiness. You will have more leverage over the understanding process of your employees. 5. Use a Smooth employee onboarding system Organizations that focus on making employee onboarding interactive are more prone to retain their employees for long. The Digital Adoption Platform from Apty can prove to be an effective boon. It enables new hires to go through the onboarding process with ease. This can be carried out in a remote setup without the help of an instructor. This makes the employees self-dependent and helps them learn all the basics of the organization through walkthroughs and workflows, thus improving engagement. Key takeaway Now that you are aware of improving the engagement of the new recruits, it is essential to ensure that all the employees can feel connected with your organization and find some meaning or purpose in the work processes. If they do not feel at ease or experience immense pressure initially, they won’t be able to perform at their best. This will ultimately affect your business. Therefore, to avoid any adverse consequences, pay close attention to improving the engagement rate of all the new employees. About Author: Revanth is a B2B Marketer who has a definite flair for outreach and networking, alongside being a prolific writer. As an author, he enjoys exploring all things related to digital adoption and transformation. When the 'B2B Marketing ninja' mask is off, Revanth is an ardent tech geek, a lover of road trips, and a sports enthusiast who plays badminton, cricket, or any sport, really!

On a global scale, we have all had to endure our fair share of economic turbulence. From pandemics to lockdowns–businesses have had to adapt themselves to fit new territories. The idea of well-being is being championed as a vital element in the workplace. More businesses are incorporating an awareness of emotional intelligence; and in particular, empathy. Empathy in the workplace allows employees to really feel valued and secure. Requests are heard and changes are implemented–with their welfare kept at the forefront. When employees care for it benefits everyone. Businesses witness an increase in staff engagement, productivity, and motivation. And when the workforce is happy, the business can prosper further. A happy workforce will lead to an increase in engagement, productivity, and motivation – allowing the business to prosper further. Let us look at what empathy is, why it’s important, and how you can use it to engage your employees in the workplace. What is empathy? Empathy is the ability to recognize emotions within other people. It is about seeing things from their perspective or points of view. It is kind of like a healing plaster or a band-aid. If it is used properly, you can really help support people through tricky situations. For many of us, seeing other people go through tough times or tough hardship can be unimaginable (and even incomprehensible). It is like a personified example of, ‘walking in their shoes’. Empathy then becomes a universal way of introducing a duty to provide support and relief. Are there different types of empathy? Within the world of psychology, empathy is seen as an extraordinary talent to possess–especially in the corporate world. According to American psychologist Daniel Goleman, empathy is one of five key components relating to emotional intelligence. Empathy can be divided into three major sections: cognitive, emotional, and compassionate. Cognitive empathy This is the ability to acknowledge someone’s emotions and mindset. But you do not necessarily need to have an emotional connection with them. Managers can tremendously benefit from cognitive empathy. It’s especially useful in situations like dealing with customers. They are able to build strong rapports, which is vital for engagement and assistance. However, cognitive empathy does have its downsides. It’s classed as being rational or emotionally neutral. Which means people can utilize it to manipulate others or situations. Emotional empathy This form relates to synchronizing with an individual’s emotions–but on a much deeper note. The empathizer becomes affected by the individual’s circumstances. And this allows them to understand situations on a much deeper and more genuine note. Be warned–you should always be cautious with this form of empathy. When you become invested on this level, you can easily become consumed by emotions. And if this tips over to feelings of overwhelm, you could easily end up damaging your own wellbeing. Compassionate empathy This form involves showing concern to others, whilst practically solving the problem. Compassionate empathy is seen as the most proactive of all three divisions. You will initially learn to understand a person’s grief. It leads on to providing them with a ‘safe space’ to acknowledge their emotions. With this form, it’s important to allow a reasonable amount of time for recovery. The importance of having empathy in the workplace Some employers might brush off the importance of empathy and emotional intelligence. They might think, “empathy takes too much effort… why do I have to care?” Empathy is a such a powerful instrument to keep on your belt. It benefits both your employees and the business. Of course, taking care of one’s physical aspect is important, like health and safety. But tending to psychological and emotional wellbeing is just as vital. It is almost at the core of mindfulness in the workplace. Overall, an equal balance of physical and mental wellbeing will ultimately protect your staff. And it is this that will grow employee engagement, an increase in morale and, business success. How to use empathy to engage employees There are so many empathetic methods that are used to engage employees. It is all about having emotional intelligence with them. After you have conquered this, you can sit back and watch it grow into healthy engagement and motivation in the workplace. Here are steps for using empathy to engage your employees at work: Champion teamwork As an employer, it is so important to champion strong teamwork within your workplace. And believe it or not, empathy allows this. When your workforce is united in solidarity, communication is clearer and constant. That is why should show empathy through teamwork, as it’s beneficial for all aspects of your business. From smaller teams to departmental tiers–whether it is one task or an ongoing project, your workers will prosper when they work cohesively. Empathy also allows people to feel cared for; and it is this that will grow business productivity. Share gratitude Employees are motivated and engaged by several things during work. And equally, can be become disengaged through negative treatment too. That is why it is crucial to share gratitude with your employees. Every employee–from the bottom to the top–should feel like a valued member of the business. It might seem like an obvious statement–but a business is nothing without its people. So, sharing a little gratitude towards them will help establish a healthy and happy workplace. Tailoring it back to empathy, they both go hand in hand. Gratitude allows you to navigate and apply empathy to your work cultures and practices. From making someone a ‘cup of joe’ to providing mental health wellbeing facilities–gratitude and empathy will always be beneficial for all parties. And it will transition into loyalty, engagement, and perseverance. Listen more One of the most integral skills anyone can possess, is the ability to listen. It cannot be a coincidence that humans have one mouth and two ears! Having good listening skills is a key element to success, in both personal and professional life. We can all work on being better listeners instead of talkers. And nowhere is this more relevant than in the workplace. One of the most effective ways to better our listening skills is by making slight changes. Have patience when talking to someone and really engage with what they are saying. Take extra caution not to jump in or cut them off. You can even introduce a scheme where employees can express their concerns or queries. This is easily accomplished through things like suggestion boxes or feedback forms. Take extra care to answer all comments and process them appropriately. Empathy thrives more when you put others first As humans, we are biologically wired to put ourselves first. We cannot fight it–it comes from an inherent drive for security, endurance, and sometimes even greed. However, this frame of mind derives from hostile environments which our ancestors faced. Like deprivation, famine, and war. It is arguable that sometimes our workplaces can feel like a ‘war-zone.’ But these extremities are not necessarily needed in our everyday professional lives. We should take a larger step toward being more selfless and empathic. Having emotional intelligence and empathetic qualities is the key to motivation, engagement, and innovation. Of course, this doesn’t mean we should ignore the importance of self-compassion. We must protect our personal well-being. But showing empathy does not mean we undervalue ourselves. Use empathy to tackle unfavorable or challenging situations. You will soon recognize the significance it brings to your healing and growing process. About Author: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is dedicated to providing powerful solutions for your HR teams and creating an exceptional employee experience. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, onboarding, and to save you valuable time!

Our focus wears off more easily when attending virtual meetings from home. But effective communication plays a significant role in every business and can increase overall productivity by 25%. So it only makes sense then to avoid fatigue during calls and increase employee engagement in virtual meetings as much as possible. During the pandemic, the world witnessed a massive shift in the job market. We can still feel the effects today as companies continue to discover the benefits of working from home. And according to data scientists at Ladders, this trend shows no signs of stopping, and the number of remote workers will only grow further. But it's not all sunshines and roses. As it turns out, meetings through the screen have their downsides too. The 5 Challenges of Virtual Meetings Despite its fair share of benefits, working from home has downsides too. Many HR practitioners are concerned about the declining engagement of workers when they are not in the office. Some researchers even say the number of disengaged employees is up to 40%. And the conditions of virtual meetings are also not helping. Listening and talking to a computer screen isolates us from the group. The motivation to share ideas and exchange knowledge is much lower than in person. What endangers the meeting engagement of employees the most? Does Your Work Style Align With Your Zodiac Sign? Take our workplace Zodiac quiz to find out! ♉♊♌♍♐ Start the Quiz hbspt.cta.load(549864, '492bccaa-9525-47dc-bc17-031d3b6ddfc8', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); 1. Distraction decreases productivity How many times did you find your mind drifting away in the middle of a virtual meeting? Especially after a good lunch, or the fourth call of the day. Staying focused throughout the whole meeting is fairly challenging. During the day, employees working from home must face multiple distractions they are already surrounded by. 2. It's hard to grow virtual relationships Interacting with colleagues is essential to building trust in any team – and as this research report confirms, trust is critical for success. There are many opportunities for interactions when physically located in shared spaces. But the chances to reach out to people are missing when all communication happens online. Creating a virtual networking event may help with growing the virtual relationships between employees working from home. 3. Loss of team spirit It's also hard to create and maintain an inspiring office culture when your employees are actually not there. Another study found that strong company culture can improve employee engagement by up to 72%. And that is just one of the many reasons why building a strategic office culture is important. 4. Tech issues are always a threat Even the best technology and digital setup can sometimes fail due to connectivity issues, audio problems, random bugs, or troubles with displays. You just can't control it. It's easy to lose employee engagement in virtual meetings when they turn into a seance with questions like „We can't see you. Can you hear us?“ Usingdesktop virtualizationis a way to solve these techproblems. You are allowed to host your business applications in the cloud and ensure access to them securely and remotely. 5. Goals and priorities can get lost Needless to say, keeping a meeting organized and structured can be a serious challenge in virtual communication. It's hard to stay in the same boat with everyone and have goals in mind when watching a computer display. Losing track of thoughts and priorities is a threat to the productivity and outcome of any meeting. Use these ideas to create engagement in virtual meetings The online meeting space whether for daily team reporting, client management, or virtual sales meetings is a great way to connect people from anywhere in the world, allowing you to expand your team globally. Even though there are a number of good reasons to hire remote workers or to have freelance professionals, no matter where your employees are working from, you must take responsibility for smooth virtual meetings. It's always a good idea to instruct everyone in the company and let them know what they can do to help. A solid communication strategy will ensure you are getting the best out of your virtual meetings. Try incorporating these specific steps and watch how they change your group calls. 1. Respect everyone's individuality Virtual meetings (or meetings in general) make some people nervous and uncomfortable. It might be new to them, and they tend to worry about many things. Sometimes too much, so they stay quiet all the time and just wait it out. Keep this in mind when approaching your employees during a virtual meeting. Start the meeting with a simple question about their day or something specific. Wish them well if someone has a birthday. Another great recommendation from top managers is you should always find something small to celebrate. Start with praise, congratulate for finishing a task, and let them know you appreciate their work. 2. Do your homework and prepare Before you focus on engaging your employees in virtual meetings, make sure all the agenda points you want to discuss are clear. Inform everyone about the goal of each meeting and let them prepare. Having a properly outlined list of virtual meeting activities will help keep their attention. Notes will help you stay on track, but it's also important to write down everything that pops out. Making notes during a virtual meeting will help everyone stay focused and engage during a QA session at the end of your call. 3. Break the ice Do you need an icebreaker for your virtual meeting? If it's just a short regular catch-up, you'd best jump to the business straight away. Icebreakers are an important part of your agenda if your meeting is more of a problem-solving event, workshop, or something similar. They bring people together and will provide a great warm-up, especially if linked somehow to the meeting theme. A simple icebreaker is, for example, asking everyone to share a guilty pleasure when they introduce themselves. You could also switch this group activity to two truths and a lie. Use breakout rooms for random “speed dating” in pairs. Source: Unsplash.com 4. Keep asking questions A group of scientists confirmed in 2015 already that our attention span is decreasing. Meetings don't have to really be boring to lose the attention of attendees. In a way, it's normal for our brains. Help everyone keep their attention by asking questions now and then. Questions will encourage participants to speak out loud. Consider and respect their individual communication preferences. Ask them for their perspective and listen carefully. Make them feel heard and valued, no matter what they say. All questions should be open-ended, which means you can't reply with a yes or no answer to them. 5. Take advantage of interactive features Almost every conferencing software offers a fair scale of interactive tools for boosting engagement. According to statistics from 2019, 87% of users report feeling better engaged with colleagues through video. Creating an excellent video conferencing setup is a prerequisite for that. Using the full potential of your virtual meetings software will help keep their interest. When planning your virtual meeting ahead, you should also think of these features. Depending on your topic and desired outcome, you might want to split your meeting into smaller sessions using breakout rooms. This will allow your team members to cooperate on an assignment, brainstorm, or just have a short break from the meeting. Setting up an online shared whiteboard is another great way of brainstorming. Prepare it in advance and keep it fun. You could also prepare a vote, which is a playful and engaging way of keeping everyone awake, too. It will help your meetings to stay organized. Asking for feedback regularly is a must, just as collecting data with employee engagement surveys. 6. Re-engage with energizers Online meetings can be tiring and disengaging if you don't consider the participants’ well-being. It's harder to read their body language and non-verbal cues through a screen. Well-placed quick activities or so-called energizers, designed to re-engage and re-energize participants in your virtual meeting will enhance everyone’s productivity. Don't hesitate to ask your team to do something different and give them clear instructions. You might want to use energizers after a challenging topic. A short session of desk yoga or an entertaining quiz are great for start. 7. Add discussion time Built-in time for open discussion is unnecessary in almost every case. Your employees will feel heard and seen, plus your virtual meeting will be well-structured. Announce the structure initially, so everyone will rest assured they will have their moment in the limelight. Get the ball rolling by asking for thoughts and serve as an example by sharing your idea first. Always thank for every opinion and make sure you appreciate what the employees bring to the table. Be a great listener and encourage the discussion with open-ended questions. Conclusion What's the one biggest challenge, and how can overcoming it benefit to higher employee engagement in virtual meetings? A specific goal and structured agenda are important, but always take into account the essential part of every virtual meeting – your workers. Each person is motivated to engage more in a virtual meeting when they are appreciated and know you acknowledge their effort. Make sure it's a cooperation of talented people with the same goal, and don't make it about your company or numbers only. With the right mindset and useful specific tips from this article, you will improve the employee engagement in virtual meetings significantly. 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!

Leading people isn’t a piece of cake, but it becomes another battle if they lack morale. As the business world pace to leverage technology in order to get things done, business owners have also realized the impact of technology on employee engagement! Welcome to our blog and we hope you find actionable insights on how technology can power employee engagement in your organization. Technology today has become the center of focus when it comes to getting things done effectively. You will find many studies today that focus on the impact of technology on employee engagement. If you want to make use of technology in your organization, you must also think of the people who will use it. Employee engagement merely refers to the level of commitment and enthusiasm an employee feels towards their job in an organization. The way your employees feel about their jobs and responsibilities influences the overall performance of your organization. Highly engaged workers will drive themselves to accomplish tasks without supervision or monitoring. There will also be a high level of collaboration, job satisfaction, and productivity. A Gallup report indicates that a highly engaged workforce can increase profitability by 21%. On the other hand, disengaged employees will take more time to accomplish tasks, there will be a high turnover, the company will spend more on recruiting, and lastly, poor customer experience. Also, according to the latest stats published by Gallup, only 36% of employees are engaged in workplaces, and over 50% are totally disengaged. Certainly, employee engagement statistics indicate that organizations need to look for novel strategies to drive engagement. Now let’s dive into the most prominent ways technology can increase employee engagement. The 7 Ways Modern Technology Can Drive Higher Employee Engagement Does Your Work Style Align With Your Zodiac Sign? Take our workplace Zodiac quiz to find out! ♉♊♌♍♐ Start the Quiz! hbspt.cta.load(549864, '492bccaa-9525-47dc-bc17-031d3b6ddfc8', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); 1.The Right Digital Tools Simplify Tasks Most jobs today involve repetitive tasks and multitasking. Although employees may already be used to executing their tasks, providing the right digital tools can improve effectiveness, productivity, and overall engagement. Fortunately enough, many employees are willing to adopt these technologies for their own good. You ought to know that there is a range of AI-powered tools or business automation software that can enhance employee engagement. For example, project management tools offer autonomy in how employees allocate and spend their time. Also, task management platforms ensure proper communication between members and can help accomplish tasks within the required period of time. Today, digital tools have also made remote work possible as managers can communicate with their employees anytime and anywhere. 70% of HR professionals stress that employees perform faster if they are allowed to use their mobile phones instead of computers. Most especially millennials. If you want to introduce any digital tool in your organization, make sure that it’s easy to use and effective. If it’s necessary to first offer training to your workforce, then do it. Many organizations have embraced modern tools to enable clear-goal setting, acquisition, and utilization of data. Some of the commonest workplace digital tools you can consider include Asana, Huler, Slack, and QuizBreaker among others. 2. Gamification enhances Learning Experiences Gamification is a technique that gained popularity a few years ago and it’s amazing how several business players have welcomed this technique to amplify workplace experiences. The concept of gamification earns applause from the fact that it can make job processes more like playing a game. A TalentLMS survey confirmed that about 80% of corporates and students stress that they would be more productive if their working environment felt more like playing a game. On the other hand, gamification makes training more enjoyable. It rises from the fact that human beings are naturally competitive. A study by TalentLMS in 2019 found that 33% of employees prefer to have game-like effects in their training platforms. That’s because traditional training methods seem boring and don’t offer the same amount of satisfaction. Studies also show that organizations that use gamification can maximize their sales, enhances employee social networks, and optimize employee engagement at the same time. So, if you are willing to leverage technology during employee training, simply know that you’re making an ideal move. With mobile learning and gamification, you can make a significant difference in terms of employee engagement. 3. Performance Management Software Goal Setting Communication is key to boosting employee engagement whether between departments or with managers. However, face-to-face communication may not always be the answer. Modern technology has enabled organizations to streamline employee tasks and performance effectively. The same tools have also allowed HR professionals to update employee information, assess employee performance, and set smart goals. A range of performance management tools can be used to access and manage data during decision-making. The utilization of performance management software does not only help in acquiring data for goal setting, but it can also empower managers. After all, goal setting is the key to business success in the long run. 4. Collaboration Tools for Remote Working Collaboration in the past meant being in the same room and working together to accomplish a task. Not anymore! The business world has greatly diversified to the extent that many companies have realized the benefits of outsourcing and remote working. Today there is a range of software and tools that teams can use to collaborate timely regardless of the time and location. Effective collaboration in a workplace is vital if you want to get things done properly. As per McKinsey, 80% of modern businesses utilize social collaboration tools to enhance business processes. The use of collaboration tools can improve project management, strengthen team relationships, prevent time wastage, and encourage feedback. With all this, employees can stay engaged and aligned with the company’s goals. With the right collaboration tools in place, your workforce can work remotely, in-house, or adopt a hybrid work culture and still perform excellently. Also, you can foster greater collaboration using social media and Google Drive. 5. Technology Facilitates Work-Life Balance When employees are invested and happy with their jobs, their level of engagement increases. However, you will find that many employees today lack purpose, and are totally disengaged from their jobs. This may be triggered by a personal problem, workplace issues, or lack of motivation. With the use of AI (artificial intelligence) and collaboration tools, employees can become highly engaged since these technologies simplify tasks. Technology today allows efficiency, increases flexibility, and allows employees to work within the allocated time. Many employees get stressed when they are asked to work overtime or on days they prefer to get quality rest. So with the help of project management tools, collaboration software, and gamification during training, all this can improve a workforce’s work-life balance. 6. Digital Reward System If employees used to only work for their paychecks traditionally, not anymore. Employees today want to feel like you value their efforts and they expect you to recognize them or offer rewards in real-time. Also, post the pandemic, many organizations have employees that work remotely. So how do you ensure inclusivity? Virtual rewards are gaining popularity as they can be personalized and suitable for all types of employees whether in-house or remote workers. For any organization, you will find that many of your employees subscribe to streaming platforms or services. A digital reward system in place that includes gift cards, online movie/music subscriptions, or virtual courses can help keep your employees highly engaged. 7. Eliminates Biasness Diversification is everywhere and you will find that many organizations employ people from all walks of life. These people will have different opinions about the same matter, different work capabilities, and certainly different opinions about the work culture. With this, you might find that you’re constantly witnessing cases of discrimination, favoritism, and other ethical issues. It is true that any engaged employee can feel a sudden dip in motivation when discrimination becomes a workplace virtue. To improve your workplace environment, technology might be the answer in some cases. For example, in case some employees claim to overwork or to handle more responsibilities than others, performance management tools can be an ideal solution. It’s because these tools centralize information, and tasks and allow access to all authorized personnel. In this way, you will be able to track performance, get accurate feedback, and reward employees accordingly. To encapsulate, technology advancement is still influencing the business sphere in many ways. If you’re only leveraging technologies to improve customer experiences, it’s high time you utilize the same for employee engagement in your organization. A high employee engagement will ensure better employee productivity, minimized resource wastage, and steady business growth. More so, your employees will stay engaged which will improve employee retention. Try Workmates Interactive Demo Click trough it yourself withinteractive demo. Try It Now 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!

Human resources has changed drastically since the "olden" days — when piles of paperwork filled the back rooms of offices. Thanks to modern technology, HR has been completely revamped into a tech-savvy, efficient department that uses cloud-based solutions to manage communication. However, this growth has led to what people call "a good problem." There are so many features and functionalities to evaluate, it is challenging to feel confident making the right choice for your particular company and situation In this article, we'll compare Staffbase and Workmates to see how they stack up — and why Workmates is a great Staffbase alternative. Keep reading to learn more. What Is a Cloud Communication Platform and Why Does My Business Need It? Simply put, a cloud communication platform is an intranet app that allows a wide variety of functions, including: Video calls Instant messaging Document sharing Conference calling Collaboration And more All of these apps can be easily accessed by the employees of the company through an integrated suite of software. It is hosted by the provider on a cloud dedicated server so that it can be accessed at any time by executives and employees alike. Cloud communication platforms provide vast functionality and tools that your business can use to execute vital actions needed to help your business run efficiently. The benefits of utilizing a cloud communication platform are endless: Scalability ensures clear communication no matter how big your business is Flexibility so that your business can run smoothly no matter where your employees are located Frequent updates mean you have access to the latest tools and technology However, not all cloud communication platforms are built the same. As you begin looking for a communication platform for your business, you'll quickly see there are several options on the market. To find the one that fits your needs the best, it's important to do careful research and understand what benefits each one brings to the table. Let's take a look at two popular software options: Staffbase and LIKE.TG's Workmates. Similarities Between Staffbase and Workmates Staffbase and Workmates are both internal communications platforms. They are both built to bring employees of a business together through a streamlined hub. They have quite a few similar functions — let's take a deeper look. 1. Centralized Intranet Solution Both Staffbase and Workmates are great options when it comes to finding an intranet solution. They both offer a solid platform to conduct business communication actions, including: Sending out company-wide updates, announcements, and events Providing a central spot for company policies Publishing news in a single spot Tracking insights about employee engagement New hire information Both solutions allow companies to reach out to their employees through different mediums no matter where they are. These include mobile, desktop, and email. They can receive notifications about the company the way they want to. 2. Data-Driven Insights Both platforms also allow you to analyze and understand your different employee groups. Managers can do this by seeing what they engage and resonate with the most. You can gather further feedback through polls and surveys and get instant data that can allow your employees to be more effective at their jobs. 3. Customization Both Workmates and Staffbase are highly customizable. They allow you to build your company intranet according to your unique organizational structure. You can customize functions depending on separate departments, locations, or business areas. Differences Between Staffbase and Workmates Both platforms have similar core functions, but they differ when it comes to what they focus on. Let's take a look. 1. Internal Communication Although both platforms focus on simple communication throughout the company, the way they do it is quite different. Staffbase focuses more on a top-down communication style. Most functions focus on managers communicating with employees in different ways. This includes: Employee newsletters A communication app An intranet where workers can get information about news and announcements However, Workmates allows for a wider range of employee-centric communication and feedback loops. It focuses on decentralizing company communication so that everyone has a voice. Workmates is designed to make communication fun, natural, and productive. Workmates' personalized newsfeed allows teams to know everything that's going on in the business. This includes new hire info, events, announcements, employee spotlights, and more. Workmates has simpler navigation of employee information and shared content. Employees are empowered to start conversations on any communications channel they want. They can use Slack, Skype, Google Hangouts, and more. When it comes to collaboration, employees can easily use Workmates to: Start conversations Post comments Share thoughts Upload pictures and videos Share important documents Workmates is a great option to keep employees feeling informed, engaged, and valued as part of the team, no matter where they are checking in from. 2. Recognition and Rewards One unique feature that Workmates has is a powerful tool to recognize and reward employees. Workers can be given digital "kudos" so that their hard work or achievement is recognized company-wide. These "kudos" are tracked and can later be redeemed for other prizes such as gift cards, corporate items, or other creative ideas. These are great incentives to: Keep your employees focused Improve morale Inspire teamwork Align your employees towards common goals and objectives Create a positive culture in your company According to Gallup, organizations with high engagement do better than those with low engagement by 202%. 3. App Integrations Workmates offers a wide variety of integration with tools that your business already uses. This includes third-party tools for functions like payroll, performance management, applicant tracking, recruitment, and background checks. Some examples of apps that Workmates can integrate with include: ADP Google Apps Greenhouse Slack Checkr Intuit UltiPro Workable And many more! Staffbase, on the other hand, is much more limited. They offer integrations for apps like Microsoft 365 and SAP. This might be okay for businesses that have a team dedicated to customizing Staffbase through APIs, but this limitation can be a roadblock for those that don't. 4. Onboarding Experience Workmates features automated onboarding software. This helps save time and boost productivity. Your business can create a memorable experience for new employees from the start with features like: Fast and easy onboarding and communication for all parties involved Detailed employee profiles that showcase experience, interests, and expertise Customizable new hire portals that allow them to hit the ground running Automated emails, easy-fill forms, and paperless signing processes Checklists and workflows to keep track of the process Payroll integrations with ADP, HRIS, Ultipro, and Quickbooks These features help create a seamless, efficient, and unforgettable experience for both employees and hiring managers. Unfortunately, Staffbase does not have specific onboarding features unless they are built in through customization. This might require dedicated technicians to program it. 5. UX / Interface When it comes to the user interface, Workmates is more engaging and modern than Staffbase. Workmates features a beautiful yet simple interface where employees can: Personalize their newsfeed Customize their channels Easily see any announcements, chats, and notifications that they need with the click of a button On the other hand, Staffbase's interface left users wanting. Reviewers expressed frustration that there isn't an internal employee bulletin board where news and headlines could be easily accessed, for example. 6. Automated Workflows and Customized Forms Workmates allows you to automate a large portion of time-consuming tasks that come with managing employees. Its easy-to-use tools allow team members to build any kind of project, form, survey, or workflow. This functionality helps workers save a significant amount of time, freeing them to focus on more important tasks. Workmates also provides a powerful form builder that allows users to create just about any kind of form that you may need. After completing the form, team members can create a workflow that has specific permissions, tasks, and alerts connected to it. Anyone involved with the form or process will know exactly what they need to do next. These workflows include checklists and acknowledgments of completed tasks, so users can ensure that nothing slips between the cracks. Workmates Is the Best Staffbase Alternative Both Staffbase and Workmates feature highly customizable intranet solutions. They allow businesses to communicate effectively with their teams. They both also allow managers to analyze data to help create more effective processes and systems. However, Workmates has a clear advantage as a Staffbase alternative with other unique features. It includes a more robust internal communication system with recognition and rewards tools. It also features much more application integration with third-party tools. Add that to Workmates' automated workflows, improved interface, and onboarding tools, and you have your winner. If you'd like to see for yourself why Workmates is the preferred cloud communication business software, request a free demo today! . About the Author: This article is written by a marketing team member at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications engagement, and rewards recognition. Our user-friendly softwareincreases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk

It has been said and proven repeatedly that employees are the heart of a company. Before you can take care of your customers, you need to take care of your talent. The consequences of ignoring your workforce are low productivity and high employee turnover, which cost companies more than their retention efforts. According to a Retention Report by Work Institute, talent replacement costs organizations 33% of an employee's annual salary revenue. That is avoidable if more employers and HRs focus on employee retention by ensuring their employees remain motivated in the workplace. So how do you ensure your employees are motivated enough to stay in your company? A couple of strategic steps are required to ensure this. Effective talent management strategies guide a company’s decisions and processes, from recruitment to employee experience. Read on for some of the strategies you have to consider to help engage your employees and retain them. 1. Adopt a flexible attitude The workplace is rapidly changing. Practices like success hours and remote working are now almost standard across different industries. While this has resulted in improved work-life balance for employees, it has not been the same for the managers. Most managers struggling with the changes have managed their teams with specific management styles for a long time. However, the same old management styles will not work for the current workforce. As a manager, you need to create a balance by embracing the changes and adopting flexible and effective management styles. For instance, you need to adopt more effective measures and guidelines regarding factors like working hours. Instead of sticking to the 9-5 routine, you can embrace a flexible schedule model that emphasizes output over attendance. If you are managing teams in the health or education sectors that lack the option to work with flexible schedules, you can go for other strategies. A good example is the 9/80 model, which typically consists of eight 9-hour days, one 8-hour day, and a day off every two weeks. If your organization provides services 24 hours a day, like most restaurants, you can also try working with rotating work schedules. This method helps balance work schedules and ensures that your employees have the opportunity to work shifts that are convenient to them. You also need to develop general rules to guide how your employees deliver. For instance, when working with freelance writers in different time zones, you can implement similar deadlines to ensure the same level of timeliness regardless of your writers’ location. 2. Set clear objectives Every employee needs to have a clear understanding of what is expected of them to carry out their role. If a manager does not clearly explain their key roles and objectives, employees become confused and demotivated. From the moment you bring them on board, they need to understand the organization’s long-term and short-term goals, job descriptions, roles in achieving the organizational goals, and the success KPIs. Managers ought to take a SMART approach when setting their employees' objectives to do this right. The approach allows managers to set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely objectives. If your objectives are SMART, you can assign the right tasks and give the right amount of work that will help your team achieve that SMART goal in the first place. In other words, you’re not just taking shots in the dark and hoping your team will meet their goals. For instance, if you are working with content writers, a SMART objective could be to increase your company’s publication of blog posts by X in a month. You can instruct each writer to produce Y number of articles per day based on that goal. If they each meet the required number, then you can ALWAYS expect your team to meet the SMART goal you set in the first place. 3. Provide training opportunities No one wants to hold one position for ages and leave it with no growth or skills. If you are looking to retain your best employees, you need to invest in their career development. According to the 2018 Workplace Learning Report by Linkedin Learning, 94% of the employees stated they would stay in a company longer if it actively invested in their career. There are two ways to invest in your employees' career development: sponsoring them for external training programs or creating an in-house one. Most companies have taken their training programs online, making it easy for employees to learn on their own time and at their own pace. But creating an in-house employee training program isn’t all that difficult either. You can easily do this by offering resources and training sessions through mentorship programs. Professional mentors will help your employees sharpen their skills. The good thing about this second approach is that the mentors already know the processes involved and the relevant people to talk to in the company. Since they know the ins and outs of the company, they can also teach these to their mentees. That is something third-party training speakers can’t do. Google is an excellent example of a company that runs a mentorship program. Career Guru connects its employees with senior leaders who offer advice on skills required to take on available roles in the company. Google’s Googler-to-Googler program ( G2G) is another excellent example. The G2G program allows employees to teach their peers new job skills. At least 80% of Google’s tracked training sessions are run through G2G. 4. Carry out performance reviews Performance reviews allow managers to provide meaningful feedback to their employees. If an employee has been performing well, you can take the opportunity to recognize and reward them. Most companies have moved from regular annual performance reviews to better models as part of their talent management strategies. That has proven fruitful for the companies since they can regularly give and receive feedback from their employees. For example, a company like IBM reported reducing employee turnover by switching to more frequent performance reviews. A customized employee performance management system is one of the talent management strategies you can use to retain your top talent. It is hard to tell whether a specific model will boost organizational performance. Still, you can carry out surveys to help you find suitable ones. For example, in 2015, Deloitte redesigned its performance management system after running a survey that showed that its earlier strategy did not encourage employee engagement or performance. They developed a new strategy with no cascading objectives, yearly reviews, and 30-degree feedback tools. The performance management system embraced frequent reviews that helped recognize individual employees in teams without bias and improved employee performance potential. 5. Tools for Time Management To keep the level of involvement up, the employees need to work to save them a lot of time. It boosts productivity and the focus of the employee, which allows them to serve their organization better. Any app or software that allows employees to make a plan, stay organized, and keep track of how much time they are spending on each task can work as a time management app. Therefore, there are numerous time management apps for you to choose from. Different apps come at different prices and bring additional features to you. Therefore it is essential that you make a list of the best time management apps and then select one from the list. For example, if your employee needs to track the number of hours it takes him to create Google slides, he can easily measure it and then delegate it keeping the time it took for him in mind. 5. Focus on employee experience A company’s talent management strategies should provide a holistic employee experience. This varies from working hours to employee benefits and the company's work culture. You need to start from the basics by creating a healthy company culture that motivates them and creates a community feel. That also includes paying attention to the communication channels to avoid miscommunication. You can borrow Buffer’s Mastermind Program idea to ensure better employee relations. Each employee is paired with a same-level peer from a different team to prevent isolation among employees. When choosing communication channels for your remote team, you need to settle for one consistent tool to avoid confusion, such as a VoIP system. In addition, ensure it is a channel that allows participation from every team member. For example, Slack allows open conversations, making it easier for everyone to access the previously asked questions and feedback. Finally, you also need to offer employee benefits that motivate your employees to keep working. For example, companies like Amazon provide enticing benefits like fully paid college tuition, health care coverage, and paid parental leave. Creating loyal employees offers many benefits as well. Employees who love working for your company will naturally spread the word. You’ll be able to create a win-win situation if you offer incentives and track these with employee referral software. After all, loyal employees know other loyal people, and your recruitment pipeline will be rewarded for it. 6. Ask for ideas and feedback Managers need to appreciate feedback from their employees just as the employees do theirs. None of the other talent management strategies matters if you do not know how well they work or whether they even work at all. Upward feedback helps determine what the employees are looking for and helps employees discover the real issues their employees are struggling with. You need to ensure you get constant feedback to tackle any challenges quickly. You can use people analytics technology to gather more information on your team activity. Based on your data, you can see the areas you need to work on to ensure employees are happy. Remember, your employees can only complain for so long before they decide to find an employer who listens. Summary Today employees are less committed to staying in workplaces out of loyalty. Hence, companies must develop strategic talent management strategies that will help them retain their best employers for longer. You need to effect these strategies as soon as an employee is hired and integrated into their day-to-day roles. You learned those tips from this article. Managers need to practice flexible management styles, set clear objectives for employees, and provide career advancement opportunities. They should also perform frequent performance reviews, ask for ideas and feedback, and adapt each strategy for a holistic employee experience. Using these talent management strategies effectively will keep your employees happy and motivated. You’ll retain your best talent as a result. No credit card needed Less than 5 min to set up 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, and onboarding, and to save you valuable time!

Onboarding is the process when a new employee integrates into a new company's culture. Typically, the onboarding process begins when companies offer candidates a job and they decide to accept it. Usually, HR managers should introduce new candidates to all the necessary behaviors, skills, and knowledge they'll need. One thing is typical for all kinds of companies. Onboarding is the process that ensures new hires are ready for whatever comes at them. Successful onboarding is essential, especially for small businesses, because their limited resources don't let them repeat the hiring process frequently. While onboarding is a formal process, there are many ways to make onboarding creative and successful. Some employees decide whether to stay with the company within the first six months. When entering a small business, new hires need more personalized attention. Their first impression will determine how the working relationship grows. If an employee has a good experience, eventually, it will bring a better outcome for the business. In this article, we'll walk you through the best practices for employee onboarding that you can adapt to your company. This article gives several tips for the small business onboarding process to help create the best first experience for employees and an incredible journey. 1. Be clear about your expectation of new hires It's frustrating for new employees to spend their first day of work filling out many paper pages. But it's entirely possible to make this process more acceptable. Paperwork is the most tiresome and frustrating aspect of the onboarding process. Sending digital paperwork a few days before their start date is a great option. You can also get their attention with your social content, job announcements, and other creative ways. The faster you finish off paperwork, the quicker you can focus on the engagement side of onboarding. It speeds up your time to hire impressively. In this case, an epic first impression with your new hires is guaranteed. This way, you will let them know any other necessary information they'll need before starting to work, such as directions, building access codes, the time the working day begins, their manager's contact information, and more. An automated SMS messaging system can significantly optimize this for you. Doing steps like this before day one will help to reduce stress for you and your employees. 2. Create an epic welcome with the whole team Make your employees feel welcome from the first day. It would help if you created a warm and inviting environment from the very beginning to help relieve the tension and bring all employees together. Share the news on socials as part of your social media strategy and branding. Help new team members quickly adapt to the company's culture. Introducing them to their supervisors and colleagues is essential and should be a first-day priority. Your employees should present themselves in a fun and interactive way to get to know your teammates. Having a welcome party, with some refreshments, is a great idea. Maybe your team decided to add each other on professional networking platforms like LinkedIn. No matter which path you take to integrate your new employees, it's an important step to make them feel welcomed. The first steps are essential if your new employee wants to add productivity to your team. 3. Help the new hire by introducing them to the staff If you want that your new hires feel like a part of the team, then you should tell them about their new company structure and departments. Particularly in small businesses, most departments are also multidisciplinary and collaborative, which can be helpful during the training process. If you’re working online, use tools when the meeting is held remotely so that your new employees can meet your team successfully. If you want your current employees to help with the training process, not only should they help new members to gain knowledge, but you also help them get to know their colleagues personally. It helps you manage your new hire's learning experience, as you can send them to the best employees. If you have employees who are great at doing different tasks, this will help your new employee figure out the best way to handle those tasks. Connecting with the team leader is essential before day one. Usually, an employee's main point of contact is the direct manager. But they should collaborate with other members to access the right tools and equipment. Not just the HR department, other employees and teams, and departments should also be involved in the onboarding process. These teams have a powerful impact on a new hire's engagement. 4. Know the new employee's needs and expectations First-days are pretty challenging for new hires. Sympathize them and imagine yourself as a new employee. Plan the onboarding process by considering these questions. What challenges have your company recently faced? What have you achieved, what kind of goals, and what steps should you take to complete them? Provide them a particular training room with encouraging sentiments and company documentation they can scan. This can help them get used to before being completely trained and doing everyday tasks. Moreover, consider getting IoT solutions to keep employee data safe on different software such as task management, communication, etc. 5. Reinforce the company's mission and values to new teammates Before applying, your new hire probably researched the company's mission and values. In that case, there is a great chance that your company's culture played a huge role when they decided to join the team. In software development companies, for instance, employees look for challenging and meaningful work-time among dedicated and motivated coworkers in an aspiring work culture. It's a pivotal time to reinforce those ideas and show those values in action. The onboarding period is when your new employees will develop an opinion of your company. You need to determine things such as communication channels, training template, etc. For example, you can use a vanity phone number to keep in touch with employees and support them whenever needed. You already know that the first stages are vital to reinforce those ideas and show your values in real life. Make sure they form a great impression of your values and vision. Show them that you value their decision to work for your organization. Give employees a more meaningful introduction to the workplace culture and share your team's values. Probably you already have a great workplace culture. In that case, you need to share those values with new candidates during the onboarding process. 6. Analyze the new employee's specific job description and responsibilities It's a mistake to think new employees fully understand their new role. Confusion during the first phase of small business onboarding can lead to undesirable surprises or expectations. Take time to introduce their role description, duties, and expectations. This will help guarantee they understand and can get any questions about their concerns. All this information can also be loaded into your onboarding platform so your employees can smoothly access their job details. In addition, you can use email marketing, social media, and other communication methods to keep employees engaged. A clear and concise access point is vital and will make your employees' work more efficient. 7. Introduce new employees to your policies and give them a professional development plan Policies and procedures may be tedious, but knowing them will help new hires to ensure their success and avoid failure. Integrating this step from the beginning to help relieve them into the role they'll play in your company. Introducing procedures also helps reinforce your value as an employer because you can add the necessary information. We wean benefits, paid time off, and other bonuses your company provides. Having reachable short-term business goals within a specific time frame sets your new hires up for long-term success. It would be best if you discussed professional development more than once a year on your employee's anniversary. If you give your employees the right development plan, you help them ease into the workplace placidly. This plan will help avoid work-induced burnout or stress and encourage employee loyalty and productivity. 8. Consider it as an ongoing process The first stages are essential for the onboarding process, but it doesn't stop after that. Onboarding is not a one-time process. If your goal is your employees' success over time requires clear objectives and succession planning in your B2B processes. Even a great professional has a great mentor and support team to help them to succeed. The best onboarding process takes the experience to the employee's first anniversary. Teams who focus energy on ensuring employees are happy and heard, and have development opportunities, then there is an excellent chance that the employees won't leave your company. How to onboard with LIKE.TG LIKE.TG has created a tool to automate new hires’ onboarding experiences as a leading developer of HR software. Onboard gives you all the tools to create great and productive onboarding experiences. Everyone involved in the onboarding process, from new hires to hiring managers, gets all the information they need at precisely the right time. Onboard lets you create a detailed employee profile that allows employees to share their experiences and interests. Not only can you have employee profiles for new hires but also customizable portals. These portals and landing pages give new hires all the information they need. LIKE.TG’s mission is to make onboard greater. Therefore, HR managers can help new hires start a career path smoothly with Onboard. Employees should spend their first day shouldn't waiting for meetings or going through paperwork by themselves. Onboard gives a solution for that problem too. With HR cloud, onboarding is excellent, fast, and accessible. Conclusion Even if your small business grows, don't underestimate the importance of the onboarding process. First, help them feel welcome and create a warm atmosphere. Avoid giving them too much paperwork during the first days. Share the main factors of your company's values with them. Introduce new hires' company goals and how new employees can help achieve them. Don't overwhelm your new employees with tasks; guide them and give them a professional development plan. These tips help you create a company that feels organized and welcoming. Every company's onboarding program is unique. Therefore you should develop the best strategy for your team. Concentrate on what makes you and your business special and mix that into the tips discussed in this article.About the Author: This article is written by a marketing team member at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications engagement, and rewards recognition. Our user-friendly softwareincreases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk

The Great Resignation is upon us and employee retention has become an important topic for businesses, for good reason. Now more than ever, it’s essential to focus on looking after your workforce and keeping them happy. Rewarding employees when they go above and beyond for your company is the best way to impact on employee engagement and keep people motivated. You want to show those who do well that they are seen, heard, and appreciated. You also want to show everyone in the business that they’ll be rewarded for hard work. Here are some great ways to do this in 2022: To learn even more about managing remote teams and keeping employees working at home highly engaged, download our ebook now. Download now 1. Personalize The Gift Personalization is a big deal in the 2020s. We expect it from everywhere, including the display ads we’re served up on Facebook and any other website we visit. If you want to show an employee that you appreciate their great work, then get them something personal. A leather diary with their name embossed on it, gift cards for their favorite store, customizedcanvas printscelebrating their milestones, or a laptop bag that suits their style are just a few ideas. 2. Create A Dedicated Day For Employee Appreciation It’s important to prioritize employee appreciation, and scheduling a special day into your calendar is a good way to ensure that you do so. It’s also fun for employees because they know that this day will include rewards, announcements, and treats for them. It gives everyone a day to look forward to that’s all about them. If you host a day in the office, just be sure to enlist the help of a cleaning service so that your employees don't end up having to work in other ways. 3. Don’t Forget Their Anniversaries As with any relationship that you want to last, remembering the anniversaries of the big events is a big deal. Start with the employees’ birthdays and the days they started working for the company. You can also go the extra mile and celebrate the other big milestones in their lives—their wedding anniversaries, kids’ birthdays or even their pets’ birthdays. You can celebrate by sending them an email, a handwritten card signed by everyone, or in person, during a team meeting. 4. Invest In Interesting Company Swag Company swag is a great way to show off your brand and can make a lovely gift for employees too. However, this is only true if the merchandise is good quality and something that people want to wear or use in public. If you’re going to design acustom tee, sweater, tote or cap with your branding on it, get a design that people in the business will like. Make the company swag something that your employees will be excited about receiving as a reward. Take 5. Take Professional Photos Great, professional pictures are so important in the digital age, especially if you want to show off your team members on your company website or social media. Instead of asking the employees that you want to reward to provide a photograph, take the pressure off and organize a photoshoot. This isn’t something that most people will do on their own and it's often loads of fun when done in a work environment too. 6. Institute Lunches With Company Leaders This works really well for employees who are hoping to climb the corporate ladder. As motivation to do well, you can offer them individual sit-downs with leaders in the company as a way to mentor them. Every week or month, they can learn valuable insights into how to keep going on their career trajectory, and the company leaders can get to know those who are excelling in the business. It could be a serious win-win for everyone involved. 7. Get Active With Outings Team building so often elicits a groan from employees. It won’t if you plan active outings that people really want to go on. When you do this, team-building outings become excellent employee incentives for good performance. Getting physically active is important for improving the mental and physical wellbeing of staff who sit in front of computers at work all day. When choosing the level of the activities, make sure you think about everyone going and what their capabilities are. 8. Think About Introverts And Extroverts On the topic of thinking about everyone in your office, you should consider personality types when focusing on rewards for great work. Introverts and extroverts behave very differently and often like to get different presents or rewards. Introverts might prefer a quiet space to get work done or may want to work from home. In contrast, an extrovert will thrive in a busy office with a shared workspace. Think about how you can provide this with the rewards you offer to motivate your employees. To learn more about Perform by LIKE.TG, download one pager now Download now 9. Support The Causes Employees Care About Rewarding employees doesn’t have to be about giving them something. Showing you care about what they care about can have a major impact on how employees feel in the workplace. Consider making a donation to their chosen charity on their behalf, or organize a day out to the charity to offer help alongside your employee. You can include these details in your company newsletter to highlight your commitment to the causes they care about. 10. Have Events In Their Honor When an employee really goes to the limit with their work, only something truly special will show just how much you appreciate them. You can host an event in honor of the employee or team that did more than was expected. Again, remember to personalize the event—a family picnic appeals to some more than happy hour at a bar. Just make sure that the event suits the person or people you’re honoring and is suitable for everyone to attend. 11. Give Them The Power To Make Decisions Empowering an employee with more responsibility is a great reward. This doesn’t mean giving them a promotion, it just means that you recognize your employee's contribution and give them a bit more control and authority in their work lives. You’re showing that you now trust the employee to run with projects and to help contribute to the growth and development of the company. This will make them feel good and like they’re part of the solution; not simply a drone or a cog in the machine. It’s all about encouraging the natural leaders within your business to shine and take their places at the top. “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 12. Provide Options For Continuous Education Opportunities to learn new tech skills or having the time for additional training is not always easy to come by. When you offer a course as a reward, employees will know that you care about their abilities. You’re also providing them with the space they need to do the course and take on what they’re learning, rather than them having to ‌fit it in around their work. Final Thoughts Rewarding employees who go the extra mile is a great retention strategy. Plus, it helps to build a happy and productive workforce and an excellent company culture. Use these 12 tips to reward your employees and you’ll ensure that they feel recognized and respected. About Author: Albert Smith is digital marketing manager at Hidden Brains, a leading mobile web application development company specializing in mobile web applications. He provides innovative ways to help tech companies, startups and large enterprises build their brand.

For any business to be successful, it is essential to ensure that the employees are giving their best. A company does not depend on the efforts put in by one person; it is the contribution of a team. It is, however, the duty of the company to make sure that their employees are getting the proper motivation to give their best efforts towards the goals and values of the company. It is essential to create conditions where employees offer more of their capability and potential. Employee management can be described as the approach that increases the chance of the success of a business through the surge in individual and organizational growth by performance and knowledge management. What we will discuss here are the ways to improve employee engagement through email marketing. 1. CRM Implementation CRM or customer relationships management systems are a great help in sales management. So, What is CRM? CRMs are highly effective tools that decrease the workload that falls upon the managers. Flexible and easy-to-use CRMs automate the parts of their tasks and can leverage data. CRMs are highly effective tools that decrease the workload that falls upon the managers. Flexible and easy-to-use CRMs automate the parts of their tasks and can leverage data. Some CRM tools also improve efficiency and make the work faster. This has proven to be very helpful for the managers while training the new employees. Some of them also have a performance management module where the employees can see the comparison of their performance with the goals set for them. It can be a great motivation for them to tread towards their goals. 2. Understanding the Lead Scoring Methodology This method is used by both the sales and in b2b marketing teams to arrange the leads to regulate the sales readiness based on their point values. The scoring is done based on how much interest they have shown in your business, how acceptable they are in connection with your business, and their position in the buying cycle. Usually, social media agencies and marketing experts you will pair with have a good grasp of its utilization. It is much more than picking hot leads without regard to the database. The sales input is essential when you assign point values in this method, and thus, it cannot be defined as only a marketing process. Know all about lead scoring before choosing which lead scoring system would suit you the best. 3. Introducing Email Autoresponders There is nothing too complicated about the functions of an email autoresponder. It simply automates the tedious but vital elements of email marketing and saves up a lot of time and effort for the marketer. What is complicated is selecting one from the list of email autoresponders that are available in the market. The primary benefit of this is that it helps in fine-tuning the campaign. Different autoresponders have different prices, degrees of variability as well as features. While some tools may cost less, they might be devoid of your desired functionality. Therefore, you must compare all the email autoresponders before choosing one that works best. Employees can also use mail merge with attachments. When employees send emails containing important information, updates, or requests, or when they perform amail merge with attachment, email notifications can indicate when recipients have read those emails. This can help employees receive timely acknowledgment and feedback, fostering a sense of recognition for their efforts. 4. Email Personalization As much as cold email marketing and email personalization help impress your customers, they are also highly effective in maintaining employee engagement. Internal email communication plays a significant role in any company, especially with the shift to remote work culture. You can put up collages of various employee videos and images using a background remover or create videos and share videos privately with your employees for better employee engagement. The internal personalized emails may contain anything, be it newsletters or messages from team leaders. Internal personalized emails build a crucial bond between the employee, employer, and organization. Personalized emails are more likely to catch the attention of the employee. This makes them feel important and is a significant motivating factor for their hard work. Make sure your email domain name is secured with DMARC. 5. Tools for Time Management To keep the level of involvement up, the employees need to work to save them a lot of time. It boosts productivity and the focus of the employee, which allows them to serve their organization better. Any app or software that allows the employees to make a plan, stay organized, and keep track of how much time they are spending on each task can work as a time management app. Therefore, there are numerous time management apps for you to choose from. Different apps come at different prices and bring additional features to you. Therefore it is essential that you make a list of the best time management apps and then select one from the list. For example, if your employee needs to track the number of hours it takes him to create Google slides, he can easily measure it and then delegate it keeping the time it took for him in mind. 6. Defined Objectives and Plans Marketing is a very time-consuming and demanding department for both large as well as small businesses. Going at it without proper planning can be nothing more than a waste of time. Therefore, for the best employee engagement and results, it is essential to define your marketing objectives before making the marketing plans properly. Certain things must be covered in your marketing objectives to ensure the success of your marketing efforts. It will also give your employees more definite objectives and help them achieve the goals. 7. Utilizing the Generative Design Process for the Design team This design exploration process uses AI to generate a wide range of ideas and solutions for any complex problem. With the power of AI, the Generative Design Process builds sophisticated and high-performance design iterations, optimizing performance and reducing component weight, among other issues. It is a beneficial process for a designer, which saves time and energy. The designer has to determine the parameters and choose the best solutions. 8. Automation It goes without saying that throughout the workday, there is often more than one employee that has to do repetitive, tedious tasks like chatting with customers regarding the same queries instead of doing something productive. Automation helps to power streamline tasks, decreases the chances of human error, and saves the employees a significant amount of time.It also plays a huge role in employee satisfaction and ensures your business’ security throughaccess control modelsthat automatically restrict access to sensitive data based on time schedule and user permission levels. Marketing automation also plays a huge role in employee satisfaction. One of the most well-known automation apps is Zapier. However, if it is not the best choice for you, there are also many Zapier alternatives that you can work with. 9. Correction Tools Several apps and tools check the content of emails for both grammatical mistakes and triggers that end up sending the emails to the spam folders of the customers. These kinds of tools save a lot of time for the employees to spend doing other productive activities. 10. Feedback: Last but not least, feedback is an essential part of keeping the employees engaged and employee retention, it also is similar in the case of customer retention. It makes them feel heard and seen and will also bring to you the problems they face. There are a number of feedback tools available to collect feedback from users and employees. Apart from all the tools that work in favor of increasing employee engagement, it must be noted that employee appreciation can also greatly inspire the employees to engage in productive work efficiently by contributing to the company's success. Conclusion Many companies choose to use social media posts to improve employee development too. However, it is not the only method. Email marketing methods have also proven to be quite effective in enhancing employee engagements and are worth trying once. The best part is that email marketing is hassle-free and easy in today’s time as there are a lot of tools that can help you to automate and schedule your tasks. Thus, it is not an added responsibility in your schedule. However, not all strategies will work for your company. So, it is important to try and test all the strategies at least once to understand the right fit for your brand. Such as using an attractive, well-designed invoice template pdf that instills trust and credibility in your personal brand and increases engagement. An NPS software can help uncover hidden factors influencing employee engagement. In addition to saving money on performance evaluations, these tools help to foster an open, value-oriented feedback culture in the workplace. At the same time, always track and measure the benefits of your email marketing strategies. Only then you will know if they are increasing your employee’s productivity and efficiency. About Author: Piyush Shah is the Head of SEO at Dukaan. He's committed to helping entrepreneurs start and grow their online stores with the power of SEO.

Hiring new employees can be stressful on both sides. That’s why companies put time and effort into their onboarding process. It’s important to have a good onboarding process, not only for employee turnover but for employee satisfaction in the long run. Tips for Great Employee Onboarding 1. Share information that will impact New Starters in their First Week When you’ve finally chosen the person to fulfill the position and they’ve agreed, it’s important to communicate what your expectations will be for the first week. The first week at work can be stressful, learning new ways of doing things, trying to find the quietest bathroom, and finding the best place to order lunch from are all issues they’d have to deal with. Adding a few curveballs to the mix, especially when the rest of the office knew about it, won’t make them feel any better. 2. Make their first day comfortable There’s nothing worse than showing up for your first day of work, and no one knows about your arrival, who you are, or where you’re supposed to go. Make sure co-workers are expecting a new employee, and prepare their workspace for them. Don’t worry about dressing it up, just give them their space and whatever provisions they’d need to get started. If possible, you could even call a quick meeting to welcome the new employee and introduce them to the people they’d be working closest with. 3. Assign newcomers a work partner Starting a new job can already be a stressful time, there’s no need to add more stress to new employees by leaving them by themself in this new environment. Instead, ask current employees if anyone would be interested in assisting the new employee for the first few weeks. The current employees will understand the key roles of the business and what the expectations of the new employee would be. Having someone to watch over them, or help them when they have any questions within the workplace that don’t need upper management to solve is a great way to lessen the stress of starting a new job. 4. Plan probation management Plan the probation period for any new employees. A great way to plan their probation is by setting some goals that you’d like them to achieve. Don’t make them anything serious, instead make them fun, and sociable, but still related to work somehow. You could ask them to talk to a new co-worker each day for a week. Simple tasks that will boost their morale, as well as help them bond with co-workers. You should however plan what their role in your company is after the probation period and look at whether they work well within the group and with their co-workers. Their role within the company should be discussed with them during the probation period. That’s the reason probation periods exist. Sometimes a certain person just does not mix well with the office culture or work ethic. Companies are always on the lookout for recruits, especially those with skills and experience that relate to the position that needs filling. Businesses have even turned to social media to recruit new employees like Facebook and LinkedIn. If your company does use LinkedIn, here are LinkedIn tools that will help you get the best results from your next recruitment campaign on LinkedIn. There are plenty of companies that use these tips and more for their onboarding process. 13 Great Employee Onboarding Examples 1. Bazaarvoice Bazaarvoice is a digital company that offers software to companies that would like to display user-generated content on their websites. Bazaarvoice’s onboarding process is quite simple but very effective. All employees must attend on-site onboarding classes before starting work at the company. These classes will include the inner workings of whichever role the employee will take, as well as company structure, rules, and culture. The classes aren’t split between different levels of employees, which creates a great learning environment that is free from any prejudice. They’ve even adopted a fun game called onboarding scavenger hunt. 2. Netflix Netflix has amassed a massive user base since its humble beginnings in 1997. How you might ask? Netflix has a solid reputation for treating its employees well. They put a lot of time and effort into finding positive ways to boost employee productivity, building trust with their employees, and an overall focus on growing the company. Netflix has an excellent onboarding process that starts from day one. All new employees are greeted with a desk and laptop ready at their disposal before they even get to work. All necessities are accounted for. Call it a starting gift. Offering an employee everything they need and a space to work on day one should be an important thing more companies strive to do. Not only will employees feel important from day one, but they will be more productive from day one. 3. PepsiCo PepsiCo, the famous beverage company, is well known for trying to bring the fun factor when it comes to employee training. PepsiCo has integrated a cloud-based system that provides new employees with all kinds of educational videos, webinars, and instructional posts about things at work. Includes are quizzes and other supporting material that make finding answers to questions at work a bit more fun and easier. This software was designed by a company called Appical, which specializes in HR technology and is based in Amsterdam. PepsiCo also believes in the buddy system. This is when a company teams up new employees with old employees so that they can help them around the company until they get the hang of things. 4. Grubhub The food delivery app GrubHub has been going strong for a long time. It’s no surprise that they are so successful. Grubhub has an excellent introductory video that answers all questions any potential employees might have. It’s not long, has all the information needed, and keeps your attention. Their onboarding process involves an introductory video for new hires and potential applicants. With more businesses going fully online, we will certainly be seeing more introductory videos like this for employees soon. 5. Vodafone A telecom giant that employs people worldwide surely understands the importance of a great onboarding experience. While other companies have complex frameworks and documentation, Vodafone created its employee onboarding application. Vodafone knows what they want from their onboarding process and designed it themselves from the ground up. Vodafone has created an app, that guides their new employees through the onboarding process. In the app, new applications fill in the required information, before they are greeted with all the important information regarding working at Vodafone. Vodafone is also proud of its employee ambassador projects. Employee ambassador projects are when a company encourages employees to promote their brand or product. Vodafone UK launched their Go Social project for employees who would like to share Vodafone-related content on social media. Employees can even submit their content for approval. There are plenty of other ways you can use ambassador programs for your onboarding programs and general business. 6. Verisys When the Covid pandemic hit, many companies found themselves in a difficult position. They would not be able to close the doors but needed to find ways to keep the workforce productive and communicating. Remote working would be the solution for most businesses. Working remotely presented plenty of problems since many employees might not have the correct equipment or know how to use remote work software. Verisys created video tutorials for their workforce to help them set up their computers and workspace correctly for remote work. Verisys also made sure that any equipment needed was delivered to employees’ homes. They even sent out a welcome package to any new employees. 7.Google Google is a massive company with over 130,000 people working for them across the world. Running a company this big takes a lot of managerial prowess. Google’s workaround to introducing new employees into their massive work family is quite simple. They keep up to date with their new employees by engaging with them. Google will remind employees of their goals and the steps they need to take to get to them. Obviously, they won’t want you going from zero to a hundred immediately, but little constant, funny reminders of your goals are a great way to stay engaged with your employees, as well as boost their productivity. These reminders are split between gentle, timely, relevant, and easy to execute. Google is also a fan of using employee referrals when it comes to finding recruits. They would constantly keep in touch with employees about new positions and whether they know any people that might fit the role. 8. Apple Apple is no stranger to finding interesting approaches regarding its onboarding process. New employees are gifted a welcome package and a “class of” shirt, which acts as a reminder of when you started working at the company. What makes their approach more interesting is what’s included in the welcome gift. All Apple employees are given a brand-new MacBook, which sounds like a dream come true! But, there’s a catch. The MacBooks gifted have not been set up at all. New employees will have to ask other staff members for help, as well as their skill set to get everything they need working on their brand-new MacBook. It’s a great way to motivate new employees to ask for help, as well as a challenge with a clear end goal that is achievable in a short period. 9. Quora Quora is a big believer in the “buddy system.” The QA website assigns a current employee to mentor a new employee for a set period. Mentors are usually the best of the best in their field. New employees will then shadow their mentors, as well as be able to seek help whenever they have questions. It might lower the productivity of one of your professionals since they will have to be mentoring a new employee, but getting a new employee up to speed faster using a mentor is better than a new employee taking over a month just to settle in. 10. Monday.com Workflow management software company Monday.com believes in innovation and it shows, not only in their excellent software but also in their onboarding practices. Monday.com uses a program named CRM for HR professionals. Digging a little deeper into this program, you’ll find an excellent online platform that has been developed with new employees in mind. The HR department can use the software to customize an onboarding template that fulfills all the needs and questions any new employee might have with engaging activities, checklists, and task boards. 11. Buffer Buffer is a social media tool used by companies to post any of their business analytics like profits, overheads, and even the salaries of their employees. The coolest thing about Buffer though is the fact that it has been working remotely since its inception. New employees work under a 45-day contract first, before being fully employed by the company. During this “boot camp” stage, employees’ performances are measured, before they are hired. Buffer did get rid of this system, due to many employees feeling unmotivated or a lack of involvement. Like many other companies, Buffer now offers a guide to new employees through a set of introductory emails. 12. Zapier Zapier has over 350 employees working across the world. Their fully remote operation could be problematic, but Zapier has systems in place to make things work. Mainly engagement. Working remotely can be stressful since it can be difficult to get in touch with other employees immediately if you need help. Zapier has a full week of initiation for new employees. During this time, employees will be provided all the tools and software needed to be successful, as well as learn the main roles of their positions and how they fit within the company. 13. Jooble For the past year, Jooble has been making use of a hybrid model for its workplace. To make accommodations for this new form, Jooble had to change their onboarding process to not only work offline but online as well. Jooble believes that the best onboarding systems consist of creating a safe environment for new employees, where errors aren’t looked down upon, and they can learn stress-free. They also assign new employees a buddy for guidance. They also strongly believe in respecting each other and creating an atmosphere in the workplace where no one thinks better or higher of themselves. For online employees, the onboarding process looks a little different. Employees are sent a welcome letter before their first day, with tasks that they will be expected to do during their first work day. Jooble also believes in employee feedback. New employees will be asked for feedback on the first day, the end of their first month, and after the trial period. Get recruiting today A company's onboarding process determines whether they keep quality employees with experience, or suffer a string of miserable employees who leave before a year. Hopefully, these tips and examples will set your company on the right track when it comes to onboarding processes. Try WorkmatesInteractive Demo Click through it yourself withinteractive demo. Try It Now About the Author: This article is written by a marketing team member at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications engagement, and rewards recognition. Our user-friendly softwareincreases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk

The business practice of outsourcing has been around for quite some time. Generally speaking, outsourcing involves subcontracting a job to a third party. But nowadays, the concept of looking for an outsourced partner may extend to a variety of applications. Outsourcing enables organizations to delegate a particular function — such as the recruitment process, customer service, or digital marketing — to another firm to maximize the former’s productivity and minimize time consumption. Many businesses outsource various aspects of their operations to freelancers, contractors, or specialist groups. Technological innovations have enabled many organizations, businesses, institutions, and media outlets to outsource talent from different countries and backgrounds. Outsourcing is an excellent strategy that employs millions of people around the world while also enabling businesses to save funds and continue making profits. Essentials of Onboarding an Outsourced Team Part of any outsourcing journey is the challenge of onboarding an offshore team. Yet this step is vital to making outsourcing projects successful. Whether your organization is embarking on outsourcing for the first time or has successfully done it in the past, it's always a best practice to revisit the onboarding processes to gain a comprehensive understanding of what to expect and how to prepare for it. The following is an overview of what the onboarding process requires. Preparation of training materials or programs In-house and outsourced employees alike, especially new ones, should have access to all relevant tools or resources to help them perform their job roles. You must have robust procedures or systems in place for employees to deliver quality outputs. These mechanisms will ultimately enable your offshore staff to succeed despite their remote location. When conducting training programs, be sure to cover all the fundamental topics about their responsibilities in the team. Warm welcome and company introduction Regardless if you’re hiring 2 or 20 outsourced staff, you want them to positively represent your company. You can achieve this by properly welcoming them on the get-go and genuinely making them feel that they’re a part of your company. By encouraging your outsourced staff to build rapport with their managers and colleagues, your business may profit from improved teamwork and quality output. Strategic orientation and oversight Clarify how the work ofyour outsourcedteam will be managed remotely. Have regular meetings for all projects in progress as part of project management. Every week, keep track of deadlines and deliverables, as well as feedback and guidance. Remember that outsourcing isn't a one-size-fits-allsolution, so you must orient and superviseyour staff in a manner that suits and bolsters your business. Realistic and measurable targets Discuss your key performance indicators (KPIs) with the outsourced team. Your set of KPIs serves as an objective method of assessing the performance of your outsourcing partner. Equally important is planning how to attain these targets. An outsourced team may not perform as well right away, but proper guidance could help familiarize them with your processes and, therefore, make it easier for them to achieve your business goals. Regular feedback Assign someone from your in-house team to regularly provide feedback and review for your outsourced employees. Keep this practice until you’re convinced that the latter fully understand your standards and procedures. It’s also an effective way to determine whether the outsourced team is the correct fit for your business or if you need to find someone else early on. To learn even more about managing remote teams and keeping employees working at home highly engaged, download our ebook now. Download now Best Practices for Onboarding Large Outsourced Teams Even if your company already has an onboarding program in place, there are a few more arrangements toconsider, especially if you'reworking with a larger remote team of a different culture. Here are widely practiced strategies to efficiently onboard larger outsourced teams: Get your existing team on board, too Ensure that your current workforce is on board and understands the processes before you start training and onboarding your new outsourced employees. They most probably have a lot of questions regarding the changes that are taking place. For instance, they may be concerned about what bringing in more outsourced workers would imply for their job security. Organizing training sessions with both your in-house and remote teams is an excellent approach to set things straight and get everyone on board. Build good working relationships The majority of workplace onboarding meetings typically begin with an “Introduce yourself” engagement. They're usually quick, but that's fine because new employees will have moreopportunities to form relationships in the days and weeks ahead. However, such is not the case for remote workers. You'll need to be a little more proactive in encouraging conversations and getting to know your outsourced team to make new employees feel welcome and create the kind of relationship that leads to a positive, productive type of workplace culture. Identifythe ideal means of communication Communication is non-negotiable for any business organization, so make sure your outsourced team has access to the communication channels you use. These channels should easily facilitate work interactions among team members. Video conferencing is one of the primary modes of business communication, while other channels like email and direct messaging platforms can be utilized for employee check-ins and project follow-ups. Set clear expectations for your outsourced team and educate them on their roles Determine and communicate the contributions you expect from your outsourced team. Here, being transparent is necessary. Overlooking this important factor can result in underperformance, which can eventually lead to lower productivity. Your organization should set clear work descriptions for every employee. Ideally, you shouldencourage your outsourced staff to ask questions at every stage of the onboarding process. Get in touch with your outsourcing provider for sound advice You may be building up an offshore team for the first time, but your outsourcing provider has done thisso many times before and knows what works and what doesn't. A reputable provider that’s well-informed about outsourcing trends will be more than willing to share their knowledge and experience to help your business grow. A credible outsourcing company can help you set up your team and hire customer success managers who are industry leaders. They can help you with KPIs, metrics, training initiatives, team structuring, and more. Preparing Your In-house Team to Work with an Outsourced Team Likewise, theremay be a transition process for introducing outsourced personnel to your in-house employees, whether it’s the first time working with outsourced teams or they're alreadyused to collaborating withoffshore workers. During the initial briefings, you must set clear standards and goals for both in-house and outsourced employees. Some of the crucial topics to cover should include task delegation, project ownership, and chain of command. You should also explain your main reasons for outsourcing and provide details on how outsourcing suits your long-term strategies. Consider the following steps in preparing your in-house team to work with outsourced employees. Disclose the reasons Your decision to outsource has to be tied to short and long-term growth objectives for the company. Before incorporating an outsourced team, you must inform your current team about what those motivations are and how outsourcing can benefit the organization as a whole. Strategic use of resources, productivity boost, and cost reduction are some of the advantages usually associated with outsourcing. For example, you could tap the services of outsourcing professionals instead of hiring salaried employees. You could then use the savings to replace outdated equipment with the latest iterations that will make work easier and faster for in-house employees. Outsourcing can thus free up your in-house staff and let them focus on their core responsibilities while delegating non-core tasks to the outsourced team. Draw the line on task ownership and responsibilities When it comes to onboarding outsourced personnel, most companies fall short in the work assignment and project ownership aspects. Your new outsourced team is hired to take on very particular tasks and responsibilities. However, it’s possible someone else from your in-house team may already be handling such tasks—potentially leading to confusion and mismanagement. For example, if you decide to hire a software outsourcing company for a project, make sure everyone is aligned on their role and responsibilities within the scope of the project. To avoid any gray areas and ensure that the outsourced workforce will immediately bring value to your business, you should define what the project ownership shifts will look like to your existing team. Once you’ve made this clear, then your outsourced talents can step up with the tasks or projects assigned to them. Maintain open communication lines Once you’ve decided to outsource, establish an open line of communication policy between your internal and external staff. Let your in-house team stay up to date with your plans for future outsourcing arrangements, if any. It also helps to encourage every employee in your organization to express any issues or concerns. To learn more about giving access to vital HR and work information — even when they're not in the office. Download our ebook now. Download now Outsourcing Takes Some Getting Used To In a way, incorporating an outsourced team into your organization is comparable to implementing new systems or expansion solutions when you first opened a business. As such, expect your employees to feel more at ease with their outsourced counterparts the more they interact with them. Everyone, including the outsourced team for onboarding, requires adequate time and patience to adjust to new systems and processes, but remind them it's all in the interest of business growth. About Author: Trevor Michael is a Customer Contact Industry Specialist of Select VoiceCom, an inbound call center with telemarketing and IT support services. He has operated successfully within this niche industry for over ten years across Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia. He enjoys writing, golf, and going to social events.

What makes a workplace a place of work? Is it the location, the office building, the equipment, or the amenities? No, it’s the people that determine both the quality of the workplace and the future of the organization. In a 2017 study by Gallup, it was found that only 15% of the world’s one billion workers are engaged at work. It’s a downward spiral that originates with our lack of understanding of human capital management, or more specifically, employee engagement. The more engaged employees, the better it is for the organization. With effective employee engagement ideas, employees are motivated to give their best, resulting in higher profitability, better customer retention, better talent acquisition and retention, lower employee turnover, and a safer work environment. But remember: An effective employee engagement strategy is not a one-day affair. Only an ongoing process will obtain incredible results. No credit card needed Less than 5 min to set up What is Employee Engagement? Employee engagement sounds simple but goes deep. A good employee engagement strategy improves the likelihood that the relationship between the employee and the organization will be positive in nature. Engaged employees: Are self-motivated Have a clear understanding of their roles Recognize the significance of their contribution Focus on future training and development Feel that they belong to a community—that is, the organization The Benefits of an Engaged Workforce Effective employee engagement results in more motivation and better job satisfaction, and thus, a lower cost-to-value ratio for your human personnel expenditure. It goes like this: While every employee adds to the bottom line, engaged employees add that much more. This idea, also known as the service-profit chain, was introduced by Harvard researchers in the 1990s that traces business profitability and customer loyalty right back to engaged, motivated employees. Top corporate leaders know that engaged employees can help raise productivity, increase profits, enhance customer experience, foster brand loyalty, and facilitate growth. The Best Employee Engagement Strategies Below, you’ll find an outline of the steps you can take in order to ensure that the employees achieve a positive emotional connection with the organization and the work they’re assigned to do. In essence, there are three main parts: Physical: The level of complexity of work corresponds to the employees’ skill set. Emotional: Employees understand the job’s significance and put their heart into it. Mental: Employees become engrossed with their work. 1. Hire With Engagement in Mind The decisions you make during the hiring process can lead to different results in the engagement of an individual employee as well as workforce engagement across the organization. Every new hire you make has the possibility to impact how employees interact with each other, either strengthening the values of your organization or detracting from the work culture. A successful hire occurs when a new employee aligns with the organization in many different aspects, including job details as well as the company’s overall culture. Salary: Your new employee’s salary expectations should match what the company can unfailingly offer. Values: Your new hire should respect how the organization operates to attain its goals. Competency: The new hire should have the skills to meet the responsibilities of the position. Culture: The new hires should possess personal and emotional skills to be on the same page with their new colleagues and management. This doesn’t just impact current employees; new hires should be adequately prepared for their new positions, too. According to a Jobvite survey, 43% of new hires leave their jobs in the first 90 days as they felt that the role described during the process of hiring wasn’t what they experienced when they began to work. Your newest employees will evaluate their experience more carefully during the initial few weeks with your business. If you are able to provide what you promised during the hiring process, it will deepen that initial good impression and make way for employee engagement. 2. Streamline Onboarding Developing a comprehensive onboarding program can be a powerful way to improve employee engagement and support the success of new hires. A good onboarding program should: Introduce new hires to the company's mission, values, and culture: Help new hires understand the company's purpose and how they fit into the organization. Orient new hires to the organization: Provide an overview of the company's structure, processes, and systems. Connect new hires with resources and support: Ensure that new hires have access to the resources and support they need to be successful, such as training materials, a mentor, or a go-to person for questions. Provide opportunities for socialization: Help new hires get to know their coworkers and build relationships within the organization. Set clear expectations: Communicate expectations around performance, attendance, and other aspects of the job. Assess progress and provide feedback: Regularly check in with new hires to assess their progress and provide feedback to help them succeed. Your new hires are only learning to navigate the complexity and will need assistance in specific areas. Thus, your first step should be to understand their viewpoint and work towards offering an onboarding experience that will keep them engaged. According to data from ServiceNow, organizations that offer inadequate onboarding programs have twice the chance of facing employee turnover. The first impression is crucial and will have a significant impact on new employees’ expectations. 3. Clarify the Company's Mission By making the mission a central part of the corporate culture, employees are more likely to feel aligned with the company's goals and motivated to contribute to its success. When employees know the overarching goals and values of the organization, they can see how their individual roles contribute to larger objectives. To effectively communicate the company mission, management should integrate it into all aspects of the workplace, from onboarding sessions and training programs to regular team meetings and company communications. Leaders should consistently emphasize and relate back to the mission in daily interactions and decision-making processes, helping employees connect their tasks to the company's broader goals. Additionally, creating opportunities for employees to engage directly with mission-related projects or community initiatives can reinforce their commitment and understanding of the company's purpose. 4. Set SMART Goals and an Action Plan Without any goals, an organization doesn’t have a direction to follow. What does it want to achieve? What does it need to improve? What is the role of the strategy? All these questions need to be answered first. Moreover, the goals that you set need to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely—that is, S.M.A.R.T. With tangible outcomes in mind, managers will be able to properly execute the strategy and figure out whether it is following the expected results or not Once the particular goals are in place, prepare an action plan on how to attain them. At this stage, the allocation of resources and definition of key performance indicators (KPIs) are taken care of to facilitate the measurement of progress. The effectiveness of the action plan is the responsibility of the direct supervisors. Employee engagement rates soar when they distribute the results and propose future endeavors. One of the ways to ensure this is to let your employees know how significant their contribution is. There are different ways on how to do staff recognition. Tell them how it is helping in achieving the organization’s business objectives. Simply speaking, organizations need to start making their employees feel that they matter. 5. Be People-Centric Employees are not robots; they are human. Organizations that tend to see employees as a commodity, but your employees are not another factor of production. They are prospective champions of your organization’s values and principles. Companies can become more people-centric by prioritizing employee well-being and development at the core of their business strategies. Actively listen to employee needs and feedback, providing comprehensive support systems like mental health resources, career development opportunities, and flexible working conditions. 6. Create an Office Environment Conducive to Work Giving employees a space that enhances productivity and satisfaction involves ensuring that all employees have the necessary tools, information, and training to perform their jobs effectively. First, the physical workspace should be designed to promote focus and efficiency. This means organizing workstations to minimize noise and distractions, providing ergonomic furniture, and ensuring that the office is well-lit and temperature-controlled. Adequate technology and resources, such as high-speed internet, modern computers, and effective communication tools, should be readily available to all team members. Second, maintain an open line of communication where employees can easily access the information they need and feel comfortable requesting additional support. This can be facilitated through a well-structured intranet, regular team meetings, and clear documentation of workflows and policies. 7. Offer Remote and Flexible Work Offering flexible work hours can be a powerful way to improve employee engagement and foster a positive work culture. Here are a few benefits of offering flexible hours: Improved work-life balance Increased productivity Greater employee retention Improved morale There are a few different ways you can offer flexible work hours, such as allowing employees to choose their own work schedule within certain parameters, offering flexible start and end times, or allowing employees to work remotely. 8. Promote a Strong Company Culture By prioritizing a positive and inclusive company culture, organizations can create a workplace where employees feel valued and inspired to contribute their best work. A strong company culture is built on clear values that are actively practiced and integrated into every aspect of the organization, from hiring practices to day-to-day operations and decision-making processes. Management should lead by example, embodying the company's values in their actions and communications. Regularly celebrating achievements that align with these values, such as teamwork, innovation, or customer service, can reinforce their importance. Additionally, creating opportunities for employees to connect with one another, such as team-building activities, social events, and collaborative projects, strengthens interpersonal relationships and fosters a supportive community. Lastly, encouraging open communication and feedback through town hall meetings, suggestion boxes, and regular check-ins can help maintain transparency and ensure that the culture evolves in a way that continues to meet the needs of its employees. 9. Establish a Sense of Community An organization is essentially a community; each member fulfills a specific task and serves the community as a whole. To encourage this community spirit among your employees, any engagement activity can help, from organizing a big annual event to simply taking a team out to lunch. Notwithstanding the hierarchy of the organization, it’s better to maintain a certain level of equality and unbiasedness where everyone feels they are important to the community. This philosophy is typical in the new-age technology startups where they adopt a more casual, no-walls organizational policy. Though sustaining this new business approach might be tricky, it can lead to highly engaged staff. 10. Recognize Employee Contributions Two out of three employees feel they do not get enough recognition for their work, according to Office Team data reported by Forbes. As a result, most employees will not deliver their maximum potential and may engage in unwanted behavior. And highly-trained and qualified talent will always be looking for better job offers. For this reason, it’s wise to create a recognition-rich environment where good work is rewarded with perks and incentives. At the very least, a few good words and a certificate of appreciation can go a long way in letting others feel valued for their work. 11. Invest in Career Development For many, just coming to the office, doing the work assigned, and taking the paycheck back home isn’t enough. They need to know there are sufficient growth prospects for the role they are fulfilling. If your employees feel that you don’t care about their professional development, they may begin to look for work elsewhere. Whether it’s by running a proprietary training program or sponsoring higher education for your employees, you are not only investing in the future of your company but also creating a sense of loyalty among your employees. Remember, every employee loves a company that supports them in their professional career and adds value to their personal lives. Want to retain top-notch talent in your organization? Ensure their professional growth and you will reap the benefits. Providing opportunities for employee development can be a powerful way to improve employee engagement and drive better outcomes for your business. Here are a few strategies you might consider: Offer training and development programs: Workshops, seminars, or online courses help employees learn new skills or advance their careers. Encourage continuous learning: Learning opportunities outside of formal training programs can include attending conferences, participating in webinars, or taking online courses. Set up mentorship programs: Match employees with experienced mentors who can provide guidance and support as they learn and grow. Provide opportunities for career advancement: Offer opportunities for employees to take on new challenges and responsibilities, such as leading a team or taking on a new role within the organization. Promote self-directed learning: Encourage employees to take ownership of their own development by providing them with resources and support to pursue their own learning goals. 12. Hire Quality People Managers Your secret weapon to spur employee engagement is the managers—they are the middlemen between boardroom members and the employees. In most cases, the employees interact with the top-level executives rarely, if ever, but have daily interactions with their immediate bosses. Whether they are feeling secure, angry, or ignored depends on how you manage employees. Gallup’s chairman, Jim Clifton, once said: “Employees—especially the stars—join a company and then quit their manager. It may not be the manager's fault so much as these managers have not been prepared to coach the new workforce.” While organizations can choose to educate their managers on how to better engage their employees, it’s always better to hire a capable manager first. Check their professional background and try to see if they are suited for the tricky job waiting for them. 13. Introduce Team-Building Activities Team-building activities can be a great way to improve employee engagement and foster a positive work culture. Here are a few ideas for team-building activities that you might consider:Trust-building exercises: Some of the examples include "Human Knot" or the "Trust Fall."Communication challenges: Activities that require team members to communicate effectively can help improve collaboration.Problem-solving activities: Examples might include "Escape the Room" or "Mars Mission."Outdoor activities: Getting team members out of the office can help them bond and have fun together. It can include a team hiking or camping trip, or a group outing to a ropes course or other adventure activity.Creative activities: This can be in the form of painting or art competitions, singing and dancing events, etc.It's important to choose activities that are appropriate for your team and that align with your goals for employee engagement. 14. Provide Incentives for Work Achievement Incentives can be a powerful tool for motivating and engaging employees. Here are a few ideas for incentives that you might consider Monetary rewards: bonuses, pay raises, and other financial incentives Time off: offering additional vacation days or flexible work arrangements Recognition: publicly recognize and praise employees for their hard work or send a hand-written note Professional development opportunities: training programs, mentorship opportunities, or professional certification courses. Special perks: reserved parking spot or a choice of office location Another option: a recognition and employee rewards solution, like Workmates. Our solution is customizable and offers a unique set of advantages, as an ideal recognition solution. Workmates increase employee engagement and boost productivity in the workplace. Workmates Self-Guided Tour We’ll show you how Workmates can engage everyone in your organization, transform your culture, and drive productivity to new heights. Start Now 15. Encourage Collaboration Encouraging collaboration can be a powerful way to improve employee engagement and drive better outcomes for your business. Here are a few strategies you might consider: Encourage employees from different departments or teams to work together on projects or tasks. This can help break down silos and foster a sense of teamwork. Encourage employees to share ideas and feedback with one another, and create a culture where it's safe to speak up and share perspectives. Host team-building activities or outings that encourage employees to get to know one another and work together in a more relaxed setting. Encourage a culture of collaboration and teamwork by recognizing and rewarding team contributions and successes. Utilize tools like project management software, virtual meeting platforms, and online collaboration spaces to make it easier for employees to work together and share ideas. 16. Facilitate Two-Way Communication Top business leaders generally believe in the open door policy and do not use “top-secret” information to their advantage. If organizations act secretive and only divulge information on a “need-to-know” basis, it will likely cause lower engagement rates among their employees. Transparency begets trust when employees understand how corporate decisions affect the workplace. But simply disseminating information isn’t enough. Communication should go two ways—the employees should be encouraged to share their concerns so they don’t feel ignored or unvalued. Here are a few strategies that can help your organization: Create a culture where it's safe for employees to share their ideas, concerns, and feedback. This might involve setting aside dedicated time for open discussions or establishing a suggestion box where employees can anonymously share ideas. Encourage employees to communicate openly and honestly with one another and with management. This might involve creating dedicated channels for communication, such as a team chat platform or a suggestion forum. Be open and transparent with employees about company goals, plans, and challenges. Regularly solicit feedback from employees and actively listen to their ideas and concerns. This might involve hosting team meetings or one-on-one conversations with employees. As a leader, model open and honest communication by being approachable and transparent in your own communication style. 17. Utilize HR Software Implementing HR software can be a powerful way to improve employee engagement and streamline HR processes. Here are a few ways that HR software can support employee engagement: HR software can help automate and streamline HR processes, such as payroll, benefits management, and time and attendance tracking. This can help reduce the administrative burden for HR staff and free up more time for engagement and development efforts. Many HR software platforms offer features such as team chat, task management, and document sharing, which can help facilitate communication and collaboration among employees. HR software can provide employees with access to self-service tools, such as a portal for viewing and updating personal information or requesting time off. This can help empower employees and improve their overall experience with HR. Some HR software platforms offer tools for setting and tracking performance goals, which can help employees stay focused and motivated. Many HR software platforms offer features such as learning management systems, which can help employees access training materials and track their progress. 18. Conduct Employee Surveys Circulate questionnaires and surveys that permit your employees to express their opinions and concerns. The more you ask for their opinions, the more they feel esteemed, entitled, respected, and like they belong to the organization. Conduct the survey in such a way that it will yield the most thoughtful, timely responses. The catch here is to keep the surveys short and conduct frequent employee-pulse surveys. This lets employees think properly and reply at a higher rate. Additionally, it’s a great idea to build a habit of transparency and share the results. Sharing all the data collected from surveys will demonstrate transparency and help you to engage employees. 19. Engage Departing Employees Offer appropriate transparency when offboarding an employee. Each will have their own reasons why they depart. The appropriate details provided by the team members when they depart can aid the rest of the employees in processing the change without making cynical guesswork. Apart from that, recognize your employees’ reasons why they are leaving voluntarily. When you understand and categorize the reasons employees leave, it will help your organization to improve. If any engaged employees are leaving voluntarily, stay connected with them. You can consider curating alumni networks to be in contact with past employees. It will give you access to expanded networking and employment opportunities. Plus, it might make some employees come back to your organization with new skills and experiences when new positions open up. Try Workmates Interactive Demo Click through it yourself withinteractive demo. Try It Now About the 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!

Good communication with employees can be the key between the success or the failure of a business. Unfortunately, employees do not feel like there is a lot of open communication. Only36% of employeesin the United States are engaged in their work with their current companies. Meanwhile, at least 15% of employees are actively disengaged. So, if you are an owner or manager of a company, what can you do about this? Well, the answer is to come up with an effective employee communication strategy. As a manager or an owner, you may find it to be a daunting task to have a strategy that fits every type of employee. You may be asking yourself, how can I do this while setting business goals? What are the best ways to improve employee communication in the workplace? How will those ways improve the company overall? How will that help you achieve business goals? Here are six ways to improve employee communication. 1. Encourage Employee Feedback One of the first things that you can do as a manager or employer is to encourage employees to provide feedback to you. This can be anything from recent policies that were implemented to the general work culture that your company has. Openly encouraging this while keeping anonymity can do a lot of good things for you. You can gain insight into what problems employees may have been too afraid to speak up about before. If you notice a pattern with an issue coming up, you now have the information necessary to acknowledge this problem and address it. Another thing that this can do is let employees know that their voices are being heard when it comes to company decisions. An example can be if employees all complained about a problem such as the lack of proper heating in the office building. Then, after the employees gave this feedback, the company went on to fix the heating in the office. This lets employees know that they can go to upper management about issues and provide open feedback. Then, they can have more trust in management toaddress these problemsand come up with a solution for them. Encouraging employee feedback can be a great stepping stone in general open communication and it is one of the best communication tools. Receiving feedback that is honest can also help improve your business. “Our staff has praised the increased communications level Workmates delivers. We use it to communicate important project matters and give staff specific ‘kudos’ or even recognize their birthdays. More importantly, we use Workmates to clarify important project details that needed rapid dissemination among the entire team.” Christopher Baggott Chief Executive Officer of Medlinks Cost Containment, Inc. and Medlinks Staffing, LLC. Learn More 2. Recognize Employees Another thing that you can do as an employer is to start to recognize employees openly that do great work for your company. Employees are only human, so they want to know that they are appreciated for the good work done for your business. This can be a game-changer for a business considering that a large percentage of employees really value recognition.About 37% of employeesin this survey said that employee recognition was the most important thing for their quality of work. If you think about it, this makes a lot of sense because it lets an employee work so that people see the good work that they are doing and value it. This not only can improve an employee's morale, but make them more likely to stick around. In that same survey above, it was found that teams scoring in the top 20 for employee engagement experienced 59% fewer turnovers. That means thatemployees feeling recognizedgenerally makes them want to stay a part of the team that they are currently on. This can be a major key to building employee chemistry and coming up with a workflow where everyone is on the same page. An example can be giving out a bonus to the person who has the most sales on a sales team in a month. This can be a big employee reward that has a positive impact on workplace cultures. It can also help peer to peer recognition with people giving others respect for excellent work shown. Sometimes, just making people feel appreciated is all it takes for someone to be more open about their communication with you. So, you should put in an employee recognition program to boost morale. 3. Do Your Research Next, you need to make sure that you properly conduct market research for your business. This can be in any field from marketing to finances to management and more. Having the proper research on anything can increase an understanding between people. That means that they are more likely to have a clear idea of what needs to be done and the target market that they are doing it for. To do this research effectively, leaders also need to guide managers and their subordinate employees in the right direction. Make it as clear as possible what you are looking for. An example could be if another company is interested in merging with yours. Doing the proper research on that company can give you an idea of what they are all about, what they do, how they can help you, and if they are good for you. This research could save you from a contract that leads to your company getting swallowed. Or, you could find out that company's reputation for how they treat employees and previous business owners and decide that is not the way that you want to go. Research offers clear insight on certain topics and it can help you increase employee morale while providing a clear understanding of the objective. It can also help you with market segmentation and focus your product or service on a specific niche in your market. There are plenty of different types of market research that can satisfy your goals here. 4. Know Your Audience Along with the steps above, you have to have an idea of what your target audience for your product or service is going to be. This gives employees a better idea of who they are targeting in potential sales and a better idea of who they need to appeal to. What gender are you going after? What is your target age group? Do you think some races and nationalities will respond to your business better than others? These are things that you need to ask yourself as an owner or manager. Then, once you determine that answer, make it clear to employees what their target audience is going to be. Once you have your target audience down, it makes it much easier to target marketing towards them. There is more general marketing research out there already on what men and women like, what certain age groups like, and even what certain races and nationalities may like compared to others. Do not be afraid to use focus groups to get a better idea on how you can have customized services.Figure out what target audience with the data collected from those focus groups that best suits your business goals and attack from there. 5. Review Current Communication Methods If you are going to improve your communication methods, you are going to need to figure out what is wrong with your current communication methods. This means taking a deep dive into your business operation methods and figuring out how things currently get done. Then, you may notice small things that do not get picked up easily by a data sheet. For example, you may notice that your office sends most of its business memos by email. While it is not a terrible way to communicate, you may realize that there is a better and faster way to do so. What if you had an option where people can read a message at the click of a button compared to going into an email account? This research study revealed thatover 90% of peopleread a text message in the first three minutes. Consider using communication platforms that have notification methods similar to texting. If nine out of ten people are reading your important messages in the first three minutes, that means that people are understanding what needs to be done faster and they can address concerns faster. 6. Establishing Goalposts Finally, as an employee or manager, you need to constantly be setting goals to keep your employees motivated. This also helps keep the business flowing and constantly evolving. To do this successfully, you need to clearly lay out what goals you wish to accomplish for your employees. Then, you need to delegate certain tasks to employees and give them a hard deadline to finish those tasks. For example, you can say that you want to increase revenue by 10% by the end of the next quarter. To do this, you may want to do a marketing campaign to boost brand awareness. This requires clear communication to employees on what tasks they have to do and how that will help the company achieve this goal. So, it can be some employees on graphic design, some employees on a press release, some employees on social media interaction, and more. Then, the goal is to finish these tasks by the original deadline that you set. Doing so not only helps the company meet its expectations but also gives employees a morale boost for finishing a challenging task. Implement Your Employee Communication Strategy These are just six tips that you can use to improve your employee communication strategy. Do not be afraid of setting goals and reviewing your current methods to discover some flaws in your company. Also, give employees a voice by providing an open door for feedback and rewarding them when they accomplish a big task. Do you want to make employee communication even easier? Request a free demoto see how our LIKE.TG can help your business communication grow into the future. About the Author: This article is written by a marketing team member at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications engagement, and rewards recognition. Our user-friendly softwareincreases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk

Over the past two years, Covid-19 has brought about a significant amount of change that has impacted every aspect of our lives, whether it be physically, mentally, or financially. As a response, several businesses closed, the unemployment rate rose, and many people began working remotely in order to survive. In 2022, we turned back to normality with the unemployment rate decreasing to 3.6%, which hasn't changed much in the last two months. Currently, there are almost six million unfilled positions for unemployed people in the U.S. Despite a decline in the unemployment rate, at least 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs in March 2022 in search of jobs with higher benefits. Could the fact that inflation rates are rising be driving people to look for employment with higher benefits? The current inflation rate in the United States is 8.6%, which is the highest level since December 1981. In one research found that conducted by jobcase,40% of workers say their current wages are not keeping up with inflation. As a result of insufficient pay and the increase of inflation, many are increasingly stretching themselves thin to make ends meet by working multiple jobs are taking on side hustles. There is concern that the U.S. economy may enter a recession as a response to the inflation rates' quick rise. Companies like Tesla, JP Morgan, and Netflix have all announced job losses over the past two weeks as a result. Price stability remains the main factor in companies deciding to let go of their employees. Therefore, more people than ever have been searching for "remote jobs hiring immediately" in 2022, according to Google Trends. If we compare it to the year 2021, the volume of searches has now increased by 262%. At the same time, searches for “work when you want remote jobs” grew by 556%, while searches for “remote positions” increased by 85% and reached an all-time high. To help in terms of employment, Elise Alva, Director of Career Services at the University of the Potomac, has provided some answers to the most googled questions asked, which are listed below: 1. What skills should you include in your resume? (The exact question: what skills to put on resume, Average of searches over the past 12 months: 5K ) The resume is the first thing that comes to mind when you want to apply for a remote job position. This is why you need to start by making it apparent on your Resume that you are looking for remote opportunities. You can include skills that apply to practically all employment jobs, such as marketing, computer, teamwork, and critical thinking skills. Nowadays, everyone searches online regarding potential hirings, so it might be best to include your resume on LinkedIn as it connects you with professionals worldwide and aids in your success. While contact information like the city and address are important in traditional resumes, it might not be necessary to add a physical address when applying for a remote job because you will be working from home. It might be good if you can highlight your desire for remote working in your professional summer, which is the most important part as it sets you apart from the other applicants. Hard and soft skills must be covered, whereas as a team member, you must feel at ease using project management software, texting, and zoom meetings. You can even add some software you may be familiar with, such as Asana, Zoom, Google Hangouts, and Slack. Most companies want to hire someone who will build positive relationships with their colleagues remotely, so try adding some interpersonal skills such as emotional intelligence, communication, reliability, leadership, negotiation, openness to feedback, and empathy. 2. How do you list references in your resume? (The exact question: how to list references on resume Average of searches over the past 12 months: 4.3K ) A reference gives authority to your resume; therefore, it's preferable to provide a list of prior employers' contact information. In that way, companies that are more interested in what you have to offer could wish to contact the people on your reference list to learn more about your work performance, professionalism, and work ethic. First, you need to determine how many references you will include, which depends on your career level. If you are first entering the job market, it is suggested to have three reference lists; however, if you are going for a senior position, you might want to consider having a broader list of references. Asking for references from people you have supervised may raise a red flag for those reviewing your application, so it is advisable to ask your supervisors and coworkers instead. What if you don't have any work experience, you could ask? The best thing to do in such a situation would be to include references from academic advisers, mentors, or even someone you met through volunteer work who has experience in the field you are applying for. Choose a person who can speak to your abilities, skills, and qualifications because the employer will find it more credible if they know your close working relationship with you. Additionally, sending a reference list might not be necessary if the employer does not request one at the start of your application. However, if they decide to hire you, they will undoubtedly request a list of references, so be ready for everything to land you the job you desire. How Much Can Workmates Save You? Higher engagement More features Half the cost Learn More 3. How to write a cover letter? (The exact question: how to write a cover letterAverage of searches over the past 12 months: 79K ) A prospective employer will want to read your cover letter after reviewing your resume because it impacts whether or not they decide to hire you. A cover letter has a good impact, especially for remote job applicants, since it gives a chance to show your personality and passion for the company. It would be best if you create a memorable opening or attention-getter by sharing stories from your professional life while incorporating instances of relevant work you have completed or challenges you have resolved. Even if you don’t have remote work experiences, you can use your cover letter to differentiate yourself from other candidates by highlighting soft skills which are relevant to remote work. When writing a cover letter, the voice and tone are pretty crucial, and you may do this by first researching the company to help determine the tone you want to employ. The key to a good cover letter is honesty. If you suggest that you have a skill that you don't, it will reflect poorly on your application. The conclusion should be like a call to action where you will want to give them a reason to contact you by suggesting that you are open to offering more information and looking forward to talking with them. 4. How to prepare for an interview? (The exact question: how to prepare for an interviewAverage of searches over the past 12 months: 14K ) Holding the interview online is one of the most challenging parts of a remote job search since you want to give them the best impression possible as if you are in person. Thus, being well-prepared is the key to performing well in an interview. First, you need to make sure that your technology is working, such as the internet connection, webcam, microphone, and the platform where you will hold the meeting. Then you can change the background, reduce the background noise, and any distractions like the TV so that the focus is on the interviewer. Write general questions that almost all employers ask, such as "Tell me a little about yourself and why do you want to work here," as the interviewer wants to know why you think you would be a good fit for their remote position. Next, research the organization, objectives, and value proposition as the interviewer will want to know if you have attempted to learn more about the organization, so be ready. After doing your research, it might be best to write down some questions you can ask about the company's offerings, policies, and services. The secret to succeeding in this section is to practice articulating your qualities, abilities, experiences, and education. Another benefit of online interviews is that you don’t need to commute, so it is best if you join earlier, showing the effort you are willing to put into the company from the beginning. 5. What questions should you ask in an interview? (The exact question: what questions to ask in an interviewAverage of searches over the past 12 months: 5.2 ) As you expect the potential employer to ask questions about you, the interviewer expects the same from you. By not asking any questions about the company, you show a lack of interest in knowing more about the company. Below is a list of some potential questions you can ask in your first interview if you're unsure of what to ask: Can you tell me about the working culture of your company? This question demonstrates to the interviewer that you are curious to learn more about the activities and policies of the organization. Which team will I be part of? By asking this question, the interviewer will grasp that you are interested in hearing more about your potential coworkers and show a positive attitude towards teamwork. What duties would I have on a daily basis if I were to work for this company? It demonstrates to the interviewer that you are eager and inquisitive about learning the responsibilities of the job for which you have applied. 6. What should you wear for your interview? (The exact question: what to wear to an interview. Average of searches over the past 12 months: 12K ) You need to leave the best possible impression on the interviewer because it's your first and most important interview. So, just because you are at home does not mean you can attend the meeting in your pajamas because your attire can affect the impression you create on the interviewer. That’s why it is recommended to wear the same interview clothes as you would for a face-to-face interview. This would give you the impression that you were attending an in-person interview, boost your confidence, and have a favorable effect on how well you performed. 7. How to follow up after an interview? (The exact question: how to follow up after an interviewAverage of searches over the past 12 months: 6.5K ) How well the interview went relies on the tone, mimics, and length of the conversation. To avoid coming across as impatient, it can be best to wait if the interviewer states that it will take some time to choose the candidates and that they will let you know if you are accepted or not. However, if you don't hear back after some weeks, it might be advisable to send a follow-up email thanking them for their time and effort and asking how the situation is going and what the next steps are. 8. How to get a remote job? (The exact question: how to get a remote jobAverage of searches over the past 12 months: 1K ) One of the many benefits that remote jobs offer is that you are not limited by your local job market. The moment you start searching for remote jobs, doors to a world of possibilities open up for you that you would not otherwise have access to. However, like jobs in the office, remote jobs too come with its own set of unique challenges. What the interview focuses on is if you are the best remote applicant.In order to meet the company’s expectations, you must have a resume that stands out and lists all of your accomplishments as well as skills. To start, you might search in Linkedin to see what remote positions are available. Other websites like FlexJobs, JustRemote, and Remote Woman allow you to further conduct searches on remote jobs. Whether you haven't worked remotely before, try to recall instances when you did so or if you freelanced for a business because failing to specify the experience requirement could crush your application. 9. What jobs can I work from home? (The exact question: jobs where you can work from homeAverage of searches over the past 12 months: 2.5 ) Now you might be thinking what jobs can I work from home, so, there’s a list of some remote jobs which you might want to look at: Baker Animator Blogger Customer Service Representative Data Entry Copywriting Social Media Manager Graphic Designer Online Teacher Programmer As for the most high in demand remote job position in the U.S., there are five which are mentioned below that you may want to consider in terms of better opportunities: Customer Service Representative Recruiter Accountant Executive Assistant Project Manager How to Get Through Recession? Everyone worries and dreads the phrase "recession," particularly in light of the high inflation rate, which has a significant impact on individuals quitting their jobs in pursuit of new ones with better chances. So, how can you prevent a recession from impacting your lifestyle? Ask the manager about the company's stability and whether you can agree on a promotion to ensure your position is secure. In this way, you will prepare yourself for the worst and start a job search as soon as you sense that there’s something wrong with the company’s finances while you are still employed. It is suggested to start a budget fund so if you lose your job, you will have some emergency savings that you can use until you get back in the workforce . Consider looking for another profession that is highly in demand and it pays well. In this case it would be recommended to also look for other degrees which offer better opportunities and in high-demand as well. A change is necessary in these types of situations. Try building your professional network, and look for side gigs you can do while you are not at work such as freelancing. While recession can be a scary event, it is something that we have been through, so, this one should be the same. Train and prepare yourself by getting rid of your credit card debt because with the interest rates increasing at a rapid rate, you might put yourself in bigger trouble than you actually are. About the Author: This article is written by a marketing team member at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications engagement, and rewards recognition. Our user-friendly softwareincreases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk

Hiring the wrong candidate for a job can be a costly mistake. When all you have in front of you is a pile of resumes, it can be hard to make a decision. If you know what to look for in a resume, it is easier to choose the right candidate. Simply looking at the basic information like education, skills and work experience is not enough. You need to find out more about candidates and what benefits they have for your business. Here are some questions to ask that will help you to make a good decision. 1. How readable is the resume? When you’re presented with many resumes to read, the readability of a resume can make a difference. If it is sloppy and poorly structured, you can quickly weed it out. A resume should impress you at first glance, and that has much to do with its format. Candidates could create a cv in a lot if different ways. You shouldn’t waste any energy at all on resumes with grammar issues, spelling errors and incoherent thoughts. You’re not looking for a showy format but simply one that presents all the necessary information in a clear and logical way. It shouldn’t use business-speak or technical jargon in an attempt to distract you from any gaps in experience or skills. 2. Is it concise yet compelling? A resume shouldn’t tell a candidate’s whole life story or use flowery language. It should be straight to the point and offer the most pertinent information. Focus on candidates that use hard numbers rather than irrelevant fluff. For example, knowing that a candidate increased a company’s website hits from 100 to 100,000 is an impressive statistic. You should feel you want to call the candidate in to discuss more details. Unless a candidate is looking for a position high up on the corporate chain, a one-page resume is sufficient. Many candidates today will get help from a CV company with professional writers to make sure their applications are concise and yet present all their key skills and relevant experience in a compelling way. 3. Does it show progressive career growth? You should see growth in the candidate’s career progression. If you see stagnation orregression, this is a red flag. If you want a candidate that will learn and grow with the company, it helps to know that they have done this in the past. The resume should show upward progression as a candidate masters new skills. They may have even moved to another company to avoid stagnating in a specific role. If candidates appear to rise meteorically in their responsibilities, it could be fiction rather than the truth. The advancement should follow a realistic timeline. “Our hiring managers now have a reliable system that is easy to navigate. Our HR team can actively monitor the process, and assist if needed, but Onboard has helped them save so much valuable time and effort while increasing data accuracy. All of this has helped us improve compliance and gives us a powerful tool to achieve even more results in the future.” Kaylee Collins HR Analyst of Osmose Utilities Services, Inc Learn More 4. Are there any gaps in employment ? Before the pandemic, gaps in employment were a quick way to assess job seekers and eliminate unsuitable candidates. Today gaps in employment for the years 2020 and 2021 may be the norm, depending on the industry. You need to consider whether candidates have used any gaps in employment in a productive way.Candidates should always offer explanations upfront for any gaps in employment. Repeated gaps in employment outside of the pandemic years could signal underperformance. It could indicate candidates are trapped in a negative cycle they could repeat. 5. Is the resume tailored to your job posting? If the specifics listed on the resume relate to your company and the job you advertised, this is a good sign. It means the candidate has not just copied and pasted information but has tailored the resume to suit the job posting. You can quickly eliminate generic resumes sent out to all positions within a specific geographical area. Focus on those that show what specific benefits a candidate could offer to your business. 6. What kind of online presence does the candidate have? The online presence of a candidate can be very revealing. A LinkedIn account can help you to understand the value a candidate could add to your business. Candidates who provide links to social accounts like LinkedIn on their resumes can show that they have contacts in the industry and have written posts relating to it. Other links they could include are Quora profiles, GitHub contributions, Twitter handles orwhatever else they choose to list. A candidate’s online presence can also reveal more about their personality and their values. This could help you to find out more about them as a person and see whether they would be a good fit for your company culture. 7. Could the candidate be exaggerating? Many candidates lie about their skills and extend the time they spent in certain positions. When you read through resumes, you have to be alert for possible exaggerations. Being confident about their skills is one thing but being over-confident is another. If a candidate lists all the skills you require on your job posting, even when they don’t fit with their work history, you can be quite sure they are exaggerating. Any inconsistencies in the resume can be a sign of exaggeration. 8. Is there too much personal information? If a candidate includes too much personal information in a resume, it could be an attempt to make up for lack of experience. Any personal information included in the resume must apply to the role or provide character insights. If information becomes too personal or revealing with no relevance to the role, it’s best to move on.It may be very interesting that a candidate is trying to learn how to code in their spare time. On the other hand, knowing a candidate for a company bookkeeper position collects dolls as a hobby is too much information. The fact that a candidate is happily married with three children isn’t relevant to their ability to fulfill a certain role. A summer job caring for animals at an animal shelter is only relevant if a veterinary student is applying to a veterinary clinic. 9. Does the candidate have any company recognitions? Any awards or recognitions candidates earned can help them to stand out. They can often demonstrate soft skills, such as teamwork and problem-solving abilities. The awards should be relevant to mean anything. Candidates should include the official title of the reward, the date and the level of recognition. They should also include what accomplishments the award recognizes. Consistent best performer or employee of the month awards indicate a strong work ethic. Community and civic awards show a candidate’s commitment to making a positive impact. 10. Are references included or not? It used to be common practice to list at least two references on a resume. In the digital age, this is no longer necessary. Candidates can proactively collect references in case you request them. It is currently regarded as more important for candidates to keep contact referee contact details private until you request them. This is because so many candidates apply for jobs, and contact details may not be kept as secure as they should be. When candidates have reached the final stages of selection, this is when you can request contact details. At this stage, you can ask candidates for three to four referees to attest to their professional experience and skills. It’s standard practice now for candidates to create a separate referee list and submit it via email. Conclusion Hiring the right employee is crucial as it can be costly to make a mistake. Ultimately, a resume helps you to find out whether a candidate can do the job. Take the time to look for key indicators of professionalism in the applications you receive. It’s not enough just to check off a list of the skills and experience you require. Applying the above tips will help you to effectively eliminate poor candidates and hire top talent you are able to retain for the long term. About the Author: This article is written by a marketing team member at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications engagement, and rewards recognition. Our user-friendly softwareincreases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk