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7 Ways to Create a Positive and Safe Work Environment
It is a basic human need to be in a healthy, safe, and comfortable environment. People spend a decent amount of their time at work, sometimes more than they spend at their own homes, so having a workplace that is positive and safe is important to keep employees healthy, engaged, and productive.
This is not only good for your employees, but it’s also good for your company. Unhappy employees cost U.S. companies an estimated $550 billion annually. Here are some ways you can create a better workplace atmosphere.
1. Provide proper onboarding and training
Not providing new hires with a proper onboarding experience can have an immediate effect on their morale, confidence, productivity, and the way they view your business. First impressions are important when meeting new people, and they are just as important for new employees when entering a workplace. Here are some strategies you can use to improve the onboarding process.
Make sure your new hires are properly introduced to their team and to the company's culture.
Provide them with ongoing, individualized training with adequate time to learn and practice their skills.
Set expectations and goals specifically for your new hire’s role, with clearly defined success metrics and milestones, and communicate with them about opportunities for growth.
Make sure their workspace and technology is functioning, clean, and ready for them to get started.
If you are onboarding for a remote team, these onboarding tips can help make the process run smoothly.
2. Be committed as a leader
As a leader, you set the tone for the workplace. People want to be proud of not only where they work but also who they work for. Being committed to your team and to their personal and professional development can have a huge effect on your team's wellbeing, increasing productivity and reducing employee turnover.
To learn even more about improving the employee experience and increasing your competitive advantage while providing a fast return on investment, download our ebook now.
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3. Develop a safe environment
Working in an unsafe environment can have a huge impact on employees' mental and physical wellbeing. It can cause them to have increased levels of stress inside and outside of work, lowered productivity and engagement, increased chances of workplace errors or accidents, and increased absenteeism and turnover.
Here are some signs and behaviors that may be present in an unsafe work environment.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment can take the form of repeatedly asking for dates after the person has said no, sexually explicit talk, unwanted physical touch, aggressive staring or leering, and even requests for sexual favors.
This study found that up to 38% of women experience sexual harassment in the workplace. Make sure you keep up with sexual harassment training requirements based on your state to help prevent and deal with these situations as they arise.
Racial Harassment
Racial harassment may be difficult to identify in the workplace. It can take the form of mocking a fellow team member's accent, using racial slurs or generalizations and telling derogatory jokes.
If someone on your team is experiencing this type of treatment, they may be hesitant to bring it up for fear of it affecting their reputation, job security, or even their personal safety. Incorporating an anonymous system for whistleblowing can be a useful tool for your team to bring up concerns so these issues can be dealt with immediately to prevent legal repercussions.
Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity Harassment
Sexual orientation or gender identity harassment involves offensive, derogatory, or demeaning comments based on a team member’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including a team member’s transgender status. Team members refusing to use the correct pronouns for their fellow team members or using a name that was assigned at birth and they no longer use are included as harassment and should not be tolerated.
Personal Harassment
Personal harassment is a type of harassment that is not part of a protected class, like gender, religion, or race. It is a type of bullying that can most likely be found in toxic work environments. Here are some ways it can be presented:
Verbal harassment includes gossip, mockery, offensive jokes, or insults.
Intimidation tactics in the form of threats, invasion of privacy, social exclusion, and spying.
Work-related practices like giving wrongful blame, sabotaging or interfering with projects, or stealing and taking credit for ideas.
Rationalizing or defending bullying, making excuses for acting inappropriately, and blaming the victim for being mistreated.
Personal harassment is often psychological or verbal and not physical, making it harder for others to notice or to act. It is important to listen to team members bringing up concerns on how they or a fellow team member are being treated and to learn tips on how to manage and resolve conflict in the workplace.
Disability harassment is when a team member is treated poorly or unfairly in the workplace due to a physical or mental disability. This can include team members using slurs, making inappropriate comments or jokes, and excluding them from work-related functions. In a study by the EEOC, 32.2% of workplace discrimination cases filed in 2018 were for disability harassment, which is only a tenth of a percent behind sexual harassment cases.
4. Hold everyone accountable
It is important that your team knows what is expected of them with their performance and behavior. Without clearly set boundaries and objectives, you can’t expect them to give the results you need. Newly hired employees should be given a grace period, but after that time ends, they should be held fully accountable for their performance.
Your team should all be treated as equals and given an equal amount of work. If you notice an employee not meeting expectations in their competency or behavior, try not to shift their workload onto a better-performing employee. This can put your top performers at an increased risk of burnout, while the underperforming employees’ growth will remain stagnant.
5. Let everyone have a voice
Checking in with your team regularly is important to gather feedback and see where things might need some tweaking in your company. Both one-on-one and group meetings can be useful tools in keeping communication going. Act on the feedback you get and keep your team involved in the process, and when an idea is utilized let the whole team know who came up with the idea.
When members of your team have ideas that are not utilized, open up a conversation with the team member and let them know that you value their input and walk them through why their idea was not chosen, but still encourage them to share their ideas next time.
6. Trust your team
As a leader, your leadership style greatly affects your workplace environment. Leaders who micromanage create a hostile, unsafe work environment that lowers morale, increases stress, reduces productivity, and leads to poor employee retention.
As a leader, you should provide support and guidance, and create a healthy space for your team to freely think act, and perform their best without fear of their actions being perceived as the wrong move. Your team was chosen for a reason, so let them show you what they are capable of and offer guidance when it is truly needed.
Your team works hard. It is important to show your appreciation and say thank you for a job well done in a fair and equal way by avoiding these mistakes when recognizing your team. This will help keep your team motivated and productive, boost their morale, and provide them with a sense of security.
Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
5 Tips for Keeping Employees Engaged in the Lead up to the Festive Season
The holiday season is almost upon us. This is the time of year when employees' minds are elsewhere and they lose motivation. After a long year of hard work, people are eager to take a break and spend quality time with family and friends.
However, having unmotivated employees is not beneficial for the business, and as a manager, it is important to consider the best interests of not only your employees but also the company.
Luckily, there are plenty of ways in which you can support and encourage your employees during the lead-up to the festive season. Below are ways that you can do to engage your employees during this season:
1. Encourage Employees to Take Time Off
This tip seems counterintuitive because you want employees to continue working despite the distractions that the holiday season provides. However, working harder doesn’t equate to better performance. In fact, putting in more work than necessary results in employee burnout.
Oftentimes a decrease in productivity is caused by fatigue. Therefore, instead of pushing employees to keep going over the festive period, encourage them to take a well-deserved break. Many employees feel as though management won’t support them if they submit a leave request form, so push through instead of asking for it.
However, taking leave is incredibly beneficial for employees, and therefore the business as well. It is important to encourage a healthy work-life balance and to show employees they are valued as humans and not just as a number.
At the same time, as a manager, it is essential that holiday leave is managed correctly. Ensure that all leave is submitted by a certain date and that the business can still function efficiently whilst people are off.
2. Acknowledge What Was Accomplished Over the Past Year
Whilst people work to earn money, many people also find pleasure in their jobs and get satisfaction out of doing it well. As a result of this, employees want to feel valued and appreciated for their efforts. One of the best ways to do this is by acknowledging their accomplishments over the past year.
There are multiple ways to show your appreciation to employees. One of them is by giving monetary rewards or bonuses to employees that have exceeded their goals.
However, you don't have to reward employees with cash just to show your appreciation. Other options include a team dinner, team retreats, and verbally congratulating employees on what they have achieved.
By verbally telling each of your employees how much you appreciate the work they put out and showing how much it impacted the bottom line, you increase employee engagement and morale in the company. According to a Great Place to Work Institute survey, 37% of employees consider recognition as one of the "most important drivers of great work."
Since employees have proof that their work matters, you also inspire them to produce better work moving forward, knowing that it serves a purpose in the organization.
As a result, this promotes a work culture of purpose-driven employees who take pride in the work they do in your organization. This kind of work environment also helps improve employee retention rates because nobody is willing to part from a company that acknowledges the value they provide.
3. Arrange Fun Activities or Parties
While business is mostly about the bottom line, you should also allow time for fun and games. Arranging parties and activities leading up to the holiday break allows you to break the invisible barriers that exist between teams and departments in your organization.
Employees within the same department stick together, which is understandable to a degree. However, engaging employees in your entire company to socialize together regardless of which teams they belong to should help create a festive atmosphere during the holidays and moving forward.
Activities and parties also build camaraderie among employees which ultimately leads to higher levels of motivation.
Events can range from something simple such as a team dinner to bigger events like parties. Themed parties are a great way to incorporate the festive spirit and allow employees to relax and enjoy themselves.
Regardless of the type of event, it is also a good idea to include games and activities. Secret Santa, quizzes, and presentations are all good options.
4. Start Planning for the Year Ahead
Although focusing on the holidays and having fun helps with motivation, it is also good practice to remind your employees that work will resume in the New Year. Interestingly, planning for the year ahead is a great source of motivation for your team.
Planning is not always reserved for the end of the year; in most businesses management works on quarterly reviews and plans to go over how the past three months have been and what the focus is for the coming months. This allows businesses to assess what has been successful and what needs to be adjusted.
Quarterly plans are even more important as the year comes to a close as businesses will want to hit the ground running in January. Planning can also be used as a tool to help with employee motivation by allowing employees to get involved and share their thoughts on what they believe would be beneficial in the coming year.
Knowing there are goals and a plan in place for after the holidays often improves motivation because employees know there will be a new challenge after their time off.
The end of the year is also a good time to consider employee development. Spend time chatting to your team to find out what drives them and how you can support them moving forward.
By finding out their career goals and objectives, you can offer them developmental programs such as special projects, one-on-one coaching and mentoring, and other activities that will help unlock their potential of becoming future leaders in your organization.
5. Offer Stress-Free Services and Programs at Work
Let’s face it: all this preparation for fun activities is just as taxing even if it’s done in the spirit of the holidays. The simple truth is that although the festive season is fun, it can also be exhausting.
Many people find the holiday season incredibly stressful, and some employees may not feel refreshed even after some time off.
To counter this, extra steps can be taken to provide employees with resources to help them deal with stress in productive ways. Some examples could include sharing wellness tips or doing breathing exercises in team meetings.
Finally, you can offer corporate health programs to people in your company looking to get in better physical and mental health. These programs will invite fitness instructors and meditation specialists over to hold regular sessions after work for employees interested in getting to better shape.
Conclusion
The chaotic winter months can make people lose sight of your company goals to help you finish the year strong. And you definitely can’t achieve this if you don’t get your employees involved and motivated to do the remaining work at hand.
However, just as important as producing work during the festive season, it is crucial to make your employees feel valued and appreciated in your organization. Therefore, instead of finding more ways to get them to hand over more deliverables at the end of the year, the tips above allow you to give them the credit they deserve after doing an excellent job for your company.
Therefore, by following the ways to keep employees engaged and motivated during the holidays, you can boost employee morale and promote a stronger culture, both of which are important to business success.
Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
Should Future HR Managers Rely Only on Technology?
HR is becoming more complex all the time. For a start, it’s more hybrid, with gig employees making up a larger percentage of the workforce. In the near future, demand for gig workers is expected to rise from 77% to 94% for support services, and 63% to 94% for corporate staff.
It doesn’t help that “job for life” is no longer part of the lexicon, so there is also a lot more movement into, out of, and within the enterprise. Today’s employees are looking for new challenges, positive corporate culture, and opportunities to advance their professional horizons and discover their personal talents and capabilities, and you need to meet these expectations if you hope to retain them. Close to three-quarters of workers are more likely to remain at a company that offers skill-building opportunities.
On top of all that, the impact of the pandemic, plus the existing drive towards digital transformation, has made change management more pressing, more challenging, and more frequent, further complicating the picture.
HR managers today need to gather employees’ data so as to keep track of all the capabilities of each individual, in order to know how best to support them, what to offer them, and how to put those skills to best use. But at the same time, you need to keep track of the makeup of your teams and the organization as a larger whole, so you can respond to changes in your industry and be ready to mitigate risks and seize opportunities.
It’s not really possible to handle this without the help of new technology, but is tech all you need?
Manual Performance Reviews Are No Longer Sufficient
Performance reviews are crucial for encouraging employees and enabling employee growth. Ideally, they should be ongoing, constantly updating a representation of each employee’s strengths and weaknesses, but that’s a high bar to clear — unless you have tech to help you.
Traditional performance reviews involve lots of emails and spreadsheets. You have to dog people to complete their forms, and it’s easy for information to get isolated. But HR platforms have user-friendly interfaces to make it easy for people to carry out continuous performance assessments without friction.
That said, delivering the results of a performance review requires tact, sympathy, and compassion, capabilities that machines don’t possess. You need a living, breathing, and well-trained human who can convey the results in a way that the employee is able to hear and take in, so your employees get built up, not torn down.
Mental Health and Employee Wellbeing Demand Tech and Human Synergy
There’s no denying that a good HR manager has to be a people person, someone who can spot the employee who seems down, sluggish, or unmotivated. It takes a face-to-face conversation for an HR manager to check if an employee is waving or drowning.
But remote work made that tough to achieve, and many organizations still haven’t returned to the office. Increased awareness around mental health challenges has raised the bar for managers to detect them and offer support, at just the same time as anxiety, bereavement, and long covid caused by the pandemic has raised the incidence of mental health issues.
At this point, HR managers can’t do it alone. They need help from mental health apps, which can both provide regular support for those who need it, and identify those employees who need more than app-based guided meditations.
Personalized Interactions At Scale Are a Step Beyond Human Capabilities
It’s challenging for HR teams in a large enterprise to offer personalized training sessions and project opportunities, or suggest a new internal role, to the right employee at the right time. Many share these openings on a central forum and simply trust that employees will see them, but most notices go unseen.
This is where artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)-driven HR tools can help. They analyze employees and constantly update their assessment of individual skills and skills gaps, interests, and intra-team dynamics to create a multi-faceted understanding of each employee and push relevant opportunities in their direction. Some also use augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) to create immersive, personalized training experiences.
While these tools are invaluable, an enterprise still needs the holistic opinion of a human HR manager, both as part of and to confirm the data that a talent management platform might draw on.
Technology Fatigue is Real
Both employees and HR managers risk experiencing tech fatigue. Overloading employees with tech tools intended to improve their working environment, wellbeing, and employee experience can often end up backfiring. Likewise, HR managers with too many tech platforms can easily miss the wood for the trees, and fail to notice serious issues developing within the workforce.
However, HR managers who have too big a workload can face burnout, especially when many are managing hybrid teams and dealing with the ongoing fallout of the pandemic. The right way to use tech is to automate tedious HR tasks and lighten the burden on HR teams, so managers can spend more time on the human interactions and assessments that AI can’t (yet?) take over.
Successful HR Management Is All About Balance
Tech is a vital way to augment the abilities of your HR team and help them do their jobs more effectively, but like in every sphere of the world of work, HR teams need to use human and machine capabilities in a balanced way. By applying AI and ML to automate time-consuming tasks, streamline performance reviews, support employee mental health needs, and improve talent management, HR managers can improve HR processes across the board.
Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
How to Set Up Your Employee Intranet: 13 Steps to Follow
An effective employee communication portal for your company is of timeless importance.
Today, innovative technologies like the employee intranet empower employees to work more productively and make fewer mistakes. Still, it’s important to set up your employee intranet correctly.
Keep reading for 13 steps to follow when setting up your employee intranet.
1. Plan for Change
There are many available employee intranet software solutions. Planning will help you narrow down your choices and ensure that you don’t get overwhelmed.
You could begin the process by asking why you’re deploying an employee intranet software. You might also consider what challenges the intranet will enable you to solve. Most importantly, however, you want to ask yourself what outcomes you expect from intranet deployment
2. Define a Purpose
With this in mind, you can accomplish many goals with an employee intranet. For instance, it can help with:
Business process automation
Document management
Employee social engagement
Knowledge management
Teamwork support
No matter your desired outcome, it’s helpful to document your intentions clearly. This statement of goals will guide the features you seek during the intranet platform selection process.
It’s well worth the extra effort to ensure that a company communication portal can support your various workflows.
3. Outline Must-Have Functions
When considering an intranet software solution, think about your company’s internal networking strategy. For instance, what problems do you need to solve?
You might want a solution that creates a functional workspace for employees who seldom meet face-to-face. Alternatively, you may want to create a company culture where employees are more engaged and informed. Ultimately, you must question whether various software solutions will provide the needed functionality.
In most cases, however, you’ll want a customizable solution that’s easy to use. It’s also important to choose a solution that will integrate easily with your existing systems. Also, your chosen intranet platform should serve as a centralized information hub, communications platform, and collaboration tool.
4. List Nice-To-Have-Functions
Now, you can start to look at the functions that might make work-life more convenient or enjoyable. In other words, consider the extras or special features that would prove nice but aren’t mission-critical.
For example, it might be nice if your company intranet resembled a popular social media platform. This resemblance would encourage faster adoption.
Alternatively, you may want to select an intranet platform that integrates with your existing tools. This kind of capability will make it easier for you to automate business processes.
5. Get Employee Feedback
It’s employees who’ll use your company intranet. With this in mind, it’s important to find out their needs.
By collecting employee feedback, you can also figure the overall structure needed for your company intranet. This information will also help you pinpoint optimal features and determine governance policies.
For instance, you might need an intranet that supports employee collaboration. In that case, you’d talk to your teams about the features that they need to support their daily work.
6. Choose an Intranet Platform
Now that you’ve fully assessed your wants and needs, you can start to look at software solutions. At this stage, you’ll need to assemble a team to research the market and identify potential intranet solutions.
It’s essential to narrow down your choices to solutions that align with your wants and needs. Here, it’s important to remember your previous research as you review potential vendors.
Today, nearly any company will benefit from a modern, social intranet. For this reason, many companies trust a solution like LIKE.TG to support their employee culture and experience.
7. Develop an Employee Intranet Policy
Before launching an employee intranet software, it’s critical to establish a usage policy. For example, you may want to keep as many important documents as possible on your intranet.
Relying on a mix of different software solutions wastes time. Likewise, hunting for information can prove frustrating.
In this regard, it may help to review your existing communication challenges. An understanding of your challenges will help you to develop an effective intranet policy moving forward.
8. Establish Accountability
It’s also important to designate an intranet manager. This individual will oversee your internal networking strategy. For example, they’ll manage content sharing and restrictions as it applies to your employee intranet.
It’s also important to choose someone who’s responsible for publishing information and maintaining various parts of your intranet. This individual must also ensure that your intranet content stays up to date.
9. Prepare for Launch
It’s also vital to plan how you’ll launch your employee intranet. For example, your company may have had an existing system in place.
If so, you can use that system to establish baseline metrics. It will help you to develop new adoption and engagement goals for your new employee intranet.
It’s also important to make sure top-level managers are on board with the employee intranet deployment. The acceptance of company change starts at the top and trickles down. With executive leaders on board, employee acceptance will follow.
You may also consider holding special training sessions. During the sessions, you’ll teach frontline managers about the new employee intranet. With this new knowledge, they can easily promote the new intranet and answer employee questions.
10. Roll Out Your Intranet
Rolling out an employee intranet will prove different for every company. Usually, however, large organizations require a more complex deployment.
Also, a larger company will require more time for the deployment of a new employee intranet. However, all companies can benefit from testing a new employee intranet before full deployment.
During this testing stage, you’ll also want to establish the roles and responsibilities of employees. For instance, some employees might handle training. Others might oversee governance and policies.
Yet other employees might manage content creation and approval. These are the kinds of responsibilities you can solidify during your test rollout.
11. Establish Access Controls
It’s critical to establish access controls as needed. For example, you’ll most likely need to restrict certain areas of your intranet or keep your information confidential. You may even want to establish controls where some sensitive information is viewable or searchable only by authorized personnel.
It’s important to identify these kinds of security concerns quickly. You must address them immediately to ensure the security of your company information.
12. Show Employees Around
It’s important that your staff understands everything that your employee intranet can do. They must also know how to use it.
It helps to highlight the challenges that the new employee intranet will help you overcome. For instance, you may have selected a new intranet to give employees better access to your employee directory. Alternatively, you may have wanted to boost employee engagement by providing employees with the same features as a social media site.
By choosing an employee intranet solution with this kind of capability, you can promote better real-time communication. You can also empower employees to experience more meaningful interactions and work more productively.
13. Promote the Employee Intranet
By deploying a new employee intranet, you’re asking employees to learn a new software system. It’s important that they understand how they’ll benefit from it. It’s also important for them to understand how to use it.
With this in mind, it’s essential to model the behavior you want to see from your employees.
Also, it’s important for managers to check the new employee intranet regularly. Managers must make sure that they’re available to answer questions. They should also make themselves available to acknowledge feedback.
Also, it’s important for managers to show employees that the new intranet is a good thing. For example, management should make use of the employee intranet to give employees praise. This kind of positive feedback will help to promote a faster uptake of the new employee intranet.
Benefits of an Employee Intranet
Hopefully, our tips will help you to create a modern employee intranet. More importantly, we want you to enjoy the full benefits of the new software.
It takes time and effort to deploy a new employee intranet. Still, the extra work is well worth the effort.
When done correctly, a contemporary employee intranet can promote information accuracy. It will also help to improve employee productivity.
Most importantly, an up-to-date employee intranet can help to eliminate knowledge silos. It will enable your company to benefit from the full insights of your company’s collective knowledge.
Things to Avoid
Again, employee intranet deployment is different for every company. However, there are a few things that every company should make sure not to overlook.
For example, every company should establish documented rules about how staff members are allowed to communicate using the employee intranet.
It’s also important to provide training for employees who will use the new platform. They must understand how to navigate through the new system and use its features.
Also, it’s vital to remember that an employee intranet contains important data. Today, any data requires security measures.
Most companies secure their company intranet with logon credentials. However, in today’s environment, it’s vital to take security a step further.
It’s good practice to secure your information with a firewall that protects your intranet from the outside world. It’s also important to encrypt data that lives on your company intranet. You should also backup your data regularly to prevent information loss.
Boost Engagement With the Best Intranet on the Market
Hopefully, our guide on setting up your employee intranet has given you valuable insights. By following our tips, you can make sure that your company gets the most out of an employee intranet deployment.
If you’re looking for the best employee intranet software available, LIKE.TG can help. Our Workmates employee intranet software will give you a critical edge in promoting teamwork, boosting morale, and driving employee engagement. More importantly, it’s a modern, easy-to-use social intranet platform that really works.
Don’t take our word for it. Request a free demo to learn more about how our employee intranet software can help you to boost employee engagement.
Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
Employee Value Proposition (EVP): What It Is & Why Should You Invest in It
For years, businesses have been diligently catering to their customers' needs. Their USP, corporate ethos, mission statement, and branding are all carefully crafted to surpass the expectations of their client base.
Business KPIs and strategies have always been focused on retaining customers and acquiring new ones. In terms of profit and ROI, this makes complete sense. And the happier those customers are, the more they will spend on your products and services.
That is still the case today and it no doubts always will be. But a shift is happening in how employers handle the expectations of their staff.
In roughly ten minutes you’ll be provided with some invaluable insights including what EVPs are, how to implement them, and how they can drive profits and save money. That's our Reader Value Proposition if you will.
What Are EVPs?
You might be thinking: this is nothing new. Surely Employee Value Propositions are just perks worded in business jargon, right?
Well, it's a touch more complicated than that. Perks are across-the-board; one-size-fits-all benefits intended to keep employees happy. They’re basic rewards that generally don't change over time.
EVPs are a cultural shift whereby you invest just as much in your employees as you do in your customers. It means you extend your ethos, mission statement, and KPIs towards retaining staff and maintaining their wellbeing.
That means investing time and money. It means researching, planning, and reviewing. It means providing financial and non-financial benefits to attract and retain the best talent. After all, it's your staff who keep your customers happy and find you, new customers. If you want the best customers then you need the best staff.
Why Do You Need EVPs?
Today's top talent have a ton of offers and options. Organizations have long-term strategies for acquiring the best candidates, so prospects can afford to take their time and evaluate their choices.
Remote working means that businesses can cast a global net to find the best talent for a role - but so also can prospects. Therefore, if you want the best, you face international competition.
How to Implement EVPs
Your EVP strategy should be unique to your industry, your organization, and to your employees. Consult your current and former staff - if they've moved to working remotely, then use the most secure video conferencing.
When someone leaves your organization, ask them why. What were the push-and-pull factors in their decision?
Employee surveys are an efficient method for gathering data. Ask questions such as:
What do you like about working for the company?
What do you dislike about working here?
Which of your tasks do you find challenging or difficult?
Which of your tasks do you find easy or repetitive?
How long do you envisage working for the company?
Can you see a clear line of progression within the company?
Is there any training or development which would benefit you?
Do you ever feel overworked or stressed? When and why?
Is there anything more the company could do to ease your workload?
Are you able to “switch off” when you're not working?
Are you happy with the salary and financial rewards you get from the company?
Do you feel stable in your position?
Do you feel you get adequate time off work?
Which of our current employee benefits do you most appreciate?
Can you think of any other benefits that the company can consider?
If you get any recurring responses then it's probably worth addressing the issue but you should get a contrasting range of responses. Your EVP strategy needs to be just as adaptable and diverse as your workforce.
Examples of EVPs
Many EVPs are specific to their industry, but let's look at some of the broader EVPs which can apply to most organizations.
Financial EVPs
As well as basic salary, you might have other incentives to reward your employees, namely:
Performance-based bonuses
Annual bonuses
Sponsored vacations
Pension plans
Health insurance
Paid time off
Complimentary meals
Free refreshments
Discounts for company products
Non-financial EVPs
Although not financial incentives, many non-financial EVPs do still require investment and will need budgeting. They look like this:
Team building exercises
Stability and security
Equality
Flexitime
Camaraderie
Work/life balance
Standardized comms
Here, work/life balance and standardized comms are related. Standardizing your communications to a single channel or has numerous benefits. It means all your comms are in one place so messages don't get lost or forgotten.
Lastly, it means that when the working day is done, your staff can shut down their comms channel. They can enjoy quality time without being interrupted by work messages. This reduces stress, aids quality of sleep, and improves diet - all of which will make your team more efficient and productive during work hours.
Career-based EVPs
For your most ambitious and driven employees, career-based EVPs will be key. They can include:
Career development
Technical training
Improving and refining current skills
Acquiring brand new skills
Buddying and mentoring
Management skills
Travel opportunities
Learning new languages
Medical and mental health training
Focussing on the last point on the list, it's a good idea to have an employee with mental health training in each department and remember to display their names where your staff can see them. If anyone has a problem, they’ll have a list of people they can talk to and can choose to talk to individuals they feel most comfortable with.
Automation
An EVP that doesn't comfortably fit in one category is digital transformation acceleration rpa. This means that repetitive and menial tasks can be automated. Your staff members are freed up to do work that is more meaningful, creative, and rewarding. Not to mention more profitable!
Customize your EVPs
Tailor your EVP strategy to different age groups, interests, ambitions, and requirements. Let your employees map out their own EVP journeys.
Mapping your ideal customer is a well-known marketing technique. It can also be used for recruitment, so try mapping out your perfect employee and see the journey it takes you on.
What kind of role would attract them? What benefits can you offer to make you stand out? How would you financially incentivize them? How can you help to further them and develop their career? What working environment would they enjoy? What are their long-term ambitions and goals? Would something as simple as a virtual phone number help them?
On a Mission
Your EVP plan is there to attract prospects - so tell them about it! The first thing to do is write your EVP ethos into a mission statement or promise. It might look something like this:
"Joe's Shack started as a family business in 1978. We now employ more than 300 people but we still feel like a family. We believe that each employee is different and important. We will inspire you, motivate you, and expand your skillset. Tell us your dreams and ambitions and we will help you realize them. Join the Joe's Shack family."
Sell your EVP plans in the same way you promote products. It should feel like a product in that it is something that people will want to buy into.
Word of mouth is great for recruitment. If your staff is well looked after and happy, they’ll tell the world about it. Word will soon travel throughout your industry that you are a great employer.
You can spread the word as well. Write about your EVP plan on your company website, socials, blogs, and video channels. Let your customers see how much you value your people.
Added Value
Businesses are always happy to invest in productivity-boosting technology like call recording software, or task management solutions. However, they tend to forget about employee satisfaction. It's just as important, and investing in welfare-boosting incentives is a surefire way to improve the employee experience.
Customers like using companies that have happy employers. A strong EVP will boost sales and provide a great ROI.
You won't have to spend as much time or money on your recruitment campaigns. People will come to you and ask for work instead of you having to go to them.
Furthermore, if you can retain your staff, you save money on training new employees.
Review and refine
Times change and so do people. You innovate and adapt to meet customer expectations and you should do the same for your staff. The principles of EVP mean that your staff are more engaged and are happier to talk to you. They will share their ideas and not just about EVPs, but about business in general. They might suggest new techniques and technologies like workflow process software.
Your EVP plan should be under constant review. Stay ahead of your competitors and keep your best talent.
Long-term Links
EVPs mean you will be better placed to retain your staff and it also helps maximize their potential while you work together. You can't always keep hold of an employee; an employee might want to work in a different industry, for example. They might emigrate. Or, they might even be dealing with external emotional factors such as a long-distance relationship. If things don't work out, they’ll hopefully come back and work for you once more. You see, some relationships are just too good to give up.
Author Bio: Erik Bergman co-founded Catena Media and helped grow it to over 300 employees and a $200 million valuation before stepping away to start Great.com, an iGaming organization that donates 100% of its profits to environmental charities. In addition to running a successful online affiliate business, Erik also hosts the Becoming Great podcast, shares entrepreneurship tips with his more than 1 million social media followers, and contributes to sites like Entrepreneuer.com, Business Insider, Foundr, and Forbes.
How to Remove Distractions While Working Remotely
Whether you’ve been working from home for years like I have managing Great.com or you’ve just started for the first time, it’s so important to establish boundaries between your home life and your work life when they intermingle so much. Doing so can help you stay productive, focused, and satisfied in both your personal and professional lives.
One of the most effective ways to make boundaries is by reducing both personal and job-related distractions during your workday. Here are 10 ways to remove distractions while working remotely, create a good at-home work environment, and better manage your work-from-home productivity.
1. Create a Dedicated Workspace
When you have space you can go to that’s just for work, you can better prevent home-related distractions from interfering with work, shift from your work mindset to your home mindset when the day is done, and set healthy boundaries for work-life-balance.
Turn an extra bedroom into an office or office/guest room. Set up your desk and your computer and work equipment, decorate the room in a way that helps you feel like you’re at work and shut the door during work hours. If you don’t have an extra room you can transform, create barriers by hanging sheets to create fake walls or setting up a divider of bookshelves or partitions.
2. Know What Easily Distracts You
Think about the factors that could interrupt your day while working at home: kids, a partner, roommates, TV, the internet, your phone, chores. Make sure any potential distraction is out of sight, out of mind while you work. Hang a “busy” sign on your closed office door, put your phone in the other room, and keep the TV off all day. Avoid potential distractions as much as you can to stay productive and use your time on the clock wisely.
3. Start the Day With Self-Care
Going to the office every day meant following a getting-ready routine. Now that you’re working at home, stick with your typical routine as this can signal to your brain and body that it’s time for work. Then, use this time (or, at least some of it) to get ready for the day in ways you may not have been able to before.
Start your day with some exercise, like a jog or yoga, to promote stress relief, focus, and positivity. You could also take your time making your morning coffee, tea, or breakfast, journaling, reading, meditating or doing any other activity that allows you to start on the right foot.
4. Block Media and Sites That Might Distract You
When working from a computer, tablet, and/or smartphone, you have access to social media, online videos, streaming, games, and more. Consider installing a site blocker extension on your browser to block your access to specific sites, like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others that you may be tempted to open while working, for a period of time. That way you can’t act on that temptation and can better focus on your work.
5. Play Background Music
Neither total silence nor background noise is good for avoiding distraction. Put on some headphones and play background music that’s great for enhancing productivity, helping with focus, and promoting positivity. Some genres include classical music, upbeat pop, lo-fi, and other instrumental music. Many sites, including YouTube and Spotify, have playlists dedicated to work-from-home background music. Just make sure your site blocker isn’t actively preventing your access to these sites.
6. Put Your Phone on “Do Not Disturb”
If you need your phone on you, consider putting it on “Do Not Disturb.” This feature, typically found in your smartphone’s settings, blocks calls, texts, and other alerts from your phone unless it’s an emergency. You can customize which types of messages are blocked and which can come through. For example, you might block all notifications, texts, and calls from all numbers except household members, just in case they need to get ahold of you.
7. Schedule Breaks Throughout Your Workday
Working straight through a shift rarely results in a fully productive day because you have natural ebbs and flows in your focus and engagement. In addition, studies show that employees feel guilty for taking breaks, including a full lunch break each day, instead of constantly working. But taking breaks throughout the day helps you get a few minutes of rest here and there and return to work refreshed each time.
Schedule breaks throughout your day so that you force yourself away from your workspace and into an activity that allows you to recharge. Use a calendar app, like Google Calendar, iCal, or Outlook Calendar, to outline blocks of time that are dedicated for different tasks and work activities. Then, every few hours, schedule a break and take it. You can even try the Pomodoro Technique to break your work up into 25-minutes sprints of work and 5-minute breaks between them. This proven method can ensure you take much-needed rest during your workday and reduce the temptation to give in to distractions.
8. Save Household Chores for After Work
One of the perks of working remotely is that you can handle household responsibilities practically any time. However, shifting back and forth between household chores and professional work can be jarring for your mind and body, which can reduce productivity in both activities. Save chores for when you clock out, just as you would when working at the office, to avoid ineffective multitasking.
9. Share Your Schedule With Others
If your distractions come from others, like children, roommates, or colleagues, needing your attention, you can try sharing your schedule with them so everyone knows when you are and are not available to be with them. Consider putting a copy of your work schedule on the fridge, emailing a copy to your team, or posting updates on your remote work messaging app, like Slack or Microsoft Teams.
10. Know When To Give In to a Distraction
As previously mentioned, your attention span and motivation naturally ebb and flow throughout the day. And sometimes, your mind and body are both in agreement that it’s time to stop for a break or for the day. Know what your mind’s and body’s signs are that you need to give in to distraction and shift your mindset. That way you can always put your best self forward when working instead of working less efficiently and effectively when your mind and/or body are tired.
Distractions can negatively impact your productivity, effectiveness, and work-life balance, no matter the role or industry you’re in. That’s why it’s so important to understand what distractions you have to manage while working at home and employ strategies to reduce them and their impact on your work.
Author Bio: Erik Bergman co-founded Catena Media and helped grow it to over 300 employees and a $200 million valuation before stepping away to start Great.com, an iGaming organization that donates 100% of its profits to environmental charities. In addition to running a successful online affiliate business, Erik also hosts the Becoming Great podcast, shares entrepreneurship tips with his more than 1 million social media followers, and contributes to sites like Entrepreneuer.com, Business Insider, Foundr, and Forbes.
10 Effective Ways to Help Your Employees Grow
One of the most frustrating parts of recruitment is employee retention. Keeping hold of talent requires constant hard work. If your employers don’t feel valued, or you’re not helping them grow professionally, they will look elsewhere. Luckily, there are plenty of things you can do to help make your employees feel valued while promoting progression. Through professional development, employees will get something out of working with you. According to Udemy, 42% of people rate professional growth as the most important factor when deciding where to work. When you’re putting your HR plans into place, you should incorporate some or all of the following employee growth strategies.
Provide Professional Coaching
Business leaders can nurture employee development by providing coaching and mentoring programs. Rather than bombarding staff with a constant stream of orders, they should work with employees to build a strong professional relationship. This works the same way as coaching does, and requires a management system based on effective education, direction, and communication. Although you should be taking on the principles of coaching within your management, this isn’t always attainable within small businesses. Therefore, you can outsource employee coaching to a company like Placement to help them achieve professional growth. Through Placement.com, your staff can access fully vetted work coaches who can support them in achieving their goals. You can offer this service as a benefit of employment to all new employees and avoid problems with hiring new employees.
Offer Regular Feedback
Carrying out monthly employee appraisals is important. However, why should an employee only get useful feedback once a month? The answer is simple - they shouldn’t. Instead, you should strive to offer regular feedback in real-time. Wakefield Research carried out a study and found that 90% of employees would benefit from having their shortcomings highlighted regularly. If you wait until the annual review to offer feedback, you aren’t offering enough time for your workforce to grow. As a business leader, you need to work with your HR team on a way to monitor employees and assess their strengths and weaknesses. Then, whether it’s you or a member of the management team, someone needs to relay the findings to employees. By doing this, you will find work improves and productivity remains high.
Cross-Train Staff
These days, with high amounts of work taking place online, there is a fine line between roles. Therefore, businesses should focus on teaching all areas of the business. For example, a project manager can put a plan into place, but they likely don’t have hands-on experience of front-line sales. Offering the opportunity to cross-train will help to create a working culture built on mutual appreciation and communication.
One of the most obvious places to look for this divide is in restaurants. Historically, chefs belittle the work of the server and vice versa. The chef will view their work as more tiring and demanding, which it is physically. However, the server needs to deal with people all day while running around headless. In this instance, restaurants should cross-train their staff. When each side experiences the other, they immediately gain an understanding which helps the business run more effectively. To delve deeper into the major hurdles faced by HR professionals in this dynamic industry, check out 8 Major Challenges for HR in the Food and Beverage Industry.
Conferencing and Networking
Whether it’s online or calls for a business trip, you should send your staff to conferences. While they’re away, they will meet like-minded people that they can learn from. Further, they will learn from external sources and thought leaders and be able to bring back their knowledge to benefit your business. Plus, who doesn’t love to get paid to get away from the mundane?
Recognize Achievements
Making people feel important is a great asset for boosting employee retention rates. As a business, you can do this by celebrating achievements regularly with a staff recognition tool. When someone does well, and they are told so, they are more likely to be productive in the future. When you reward exceptional rewards, you need to set the bar. You can do this by introducing different levels of achievement, and throwing in a fantastic reward at the higher end. By doing this, you will create a culture based on working hard and reaping excellent rewards. If you keep the rewards exciting and celebrate achievements regularly, you will build up a loyal workforce. Further, you may find that other people hear about the way your company works.
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Soft Skill Development
The world of work is built on skill. Soft skills refer to those related to personality traits that allow for success. Although you may not know they’re called soft skills, you will have heard of them. They include time management, communication, delegation, leadership, and many more. You need to begin recognizing these soft skills and providing sufficient training to enhance them. Doing this will help you boost productivity across the entire workforce.
Soft skills are vital but they are often overlooked. You can have an employee who has been at the company for years, knows their job, and gets work done but isn’t cut out for management. Alternatively, you can have fantastic leadership qualities but not be the most efficient worker. However, these qualities would set them apart perfectly for the world of delegation. Productivity is imperative, but soft skills are what counts towards creating an amazing work atmosphere.
Create Challenging Projects
People love to be challenged because it demonstrates capability. Therefore, assign special projects to groups that call for teamwork. Throughout the process they will share skills, learn from each other, and show their abilities. If you attach rewards and feedback to the exercise, you’re onto a winner.
Learning Management Systems
A Learning Management System (LMS) does what it sounds like it should. They offer a scalable solution to businesses to provide and monitor employee growth. Through the LMS, you can create learning materials and track progress. Then, if you need to have evidence of staff training, you can generate reports. Streamlining the learning process using an LMS will save considerable amounts of time and revenue. Rather than hire numerous professionals, you can create materials for everything all in one place. Say goodbye to lengthy staff training sessions, and hello to efficient professional development
Consistently Find Growth Opportunities
The way the world works is changing all the time, and there will constantly be new and valid needs of the employee. As a successful business, you should keep up to date with HR trends. No business should create a professional and development strategy in the beginning and never update it. Employees are a business’s most important asset; therefore, they should be treated in high regard.
Be Transparent
No matter what you do, some employees will only be satisfied if they know that they’re working towards a promotion. Rather than dangling the carrot and never delivering, you should be 100% transparent on how much room for progression there is. That way, if an employee wants to stay, they know what they’re getting themselves into.
Employee retention rates are one of the most difficult aspects of recruitment. To keep hold of your employees, you need to provide personal and professional development. You can do this by regular feedback, celebrating excellence, training staff, and allowing opportunities for networking. There are many more employee retention strategies than those listed above. However, if you take on the advice above, you are on to a great start.
Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
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Strategic Shortcomings That Most HR Policies Fall Short On
When things are going well in your company, it's easy to overlook human resources management. After all, we have far more urgent issues to deal with every day. Depending on the situation, working with employees can be joyful and gratifying or time-consuming and terrifying.
With each new year, companies face a new set of problems as the HR team changes to meet the needs of a fast-paced, digitally-driven environment. HR managers have their hands full, from the #MeToo movement to a greater emphasis on paid leave and new pay equality employment laws.
Big and small businesses will eventually aim to find, develop, and retain personnel in more efficient and effective methods in 2021, resulting in competitive advantages and improved culture.
But what are the most pressing issues in HR practices in the workplace?
We've whittled the list down to the five most prevalent challenges faced by HR professionals, along with reasons.
1. Rigid protocols (lack of flexibility)
Simply, getting a new printer/scanner connected to your office's Wi-Fi is a bureaucratic headache these days!
A healthy company culture is created by a mix of good management and flexible working methods, which inspires employees and influences their overall happiness and job satisfaction.
Many employees have recently felt unsupported in their jobs, blaming tight hours, a lack of flexibility, micromanagement, and inadequate leadership. Those who were provided flexibility and support in their jobs, on the other hand, highlighted flexible hours and the freedom to regulate their own working time as reasons for their pleasure, which was bolstered by effective training, regular meetings and having "understanding" bosses.
Evidently, allowing employees to manage themselves and fit their work around their personal obligations while investing time to engage with them personally on a regular basis, leads to a happy, loyal, and productive workforce that is less likely to leave the company.
2. Incentives/perks evaluated for measuring success
It's difficult to stress how most managers and those who advise them believe in the restorative potential of incentives in a performance review.
Several investigations in laboratories, businesses, classrooms, and other settings have found that rewards often impair the very processes they are supposed to improve. The findings show that the failure of any incentive programme is attributable to the insufficiency of the psychological assumptions that underpin all such schemes, rather than a flaw in the programme itself.
Some executives argue that the only flaw in incentive programs is that they don't reward the proper behaviors. However, these executives are unaware of the psychological variables at play, as well as the dangers of maintaining the status quo.
Punishment and gratification are two sides of the same coin. They are both manipulative, they have a burdensome effect. Offering a bonus to someone who appears unmotivated is similar to offering saltwater to a thirsty person. Bribes in the workplace are simply ineffective. Aligned flow of work (lack of a balanced pyramid structure)
Middle management, sandwiched between leadership and individual contributors, often appears to be out of touch with the organization's priorities and initiatives. If the next level of management doesn't understand or accept the change, a bottom-up approach can only go so far.
Alignment drift is aided by uninvested management. For a variety of reasons, managers can stray from business aims and initiatives. Some managers are discovering strategic planning methods for the long term out of the misaligned middle despite being constrained by how they're judged and trapped in the thick of leadership disagreements.
When the human eye is drawn to a visual representation of an issue, it tries to solve it like a puzzle. This is why charting the complete end-to-end flow of work and resource planning throughout the entire system is so effective: it allows everyone to see the bigger organization's collective demands in relation to their individual departments.
Connecting teams with corporate goals through first-hand engagement in the challenges is an eye-opening exercise. Repairing misalignment takes work, but the payoff to the labor market is enormous.
4. Lack of provisions for personal development
Gone are the days when staff could get away with performing the same thing for decades. Individuals are expected to actively participate and contribute in other departments, as well as the organization's general productivity, in today's environment. This brings up the topic of self-improvement.
Personal development is necessary not only for professional advancement but also for the organization's existence. No company wants to keep someone who is resistant to change and underperforms in unusual and unforeseen scenarios. Unfortunately, few organizations provide an environment conducive to training programs.
In the due process of self-development, employees have the inkling to pursue their own career objectives and interests, as well as build confidence and become more self-sufficient. Training and developing not only benefits the employees but also the employers in the following manner:
Significantly enhances employees' skills and performance.
Creates an upwardly mobile workforce so one may promote more frequently from within.
Boosts productivity by maximizing the value of one's staff to the company.
As people are constantly updating their abilities, provisions for self-development can help your company handle change more successfully.
5. Unidirectional Communication (Mostly downwards)
When firm executives and managers exchange information with lower-level employees, this is referred to as downward communication. This remains the primary mode of communication for almost all companies.
Downward communication conveys information that aids in informing employees about important organizational changes, new goals, or strategies; providing organizational performance feedback; coordinating initiatives; presenting an official policy (public relations); or improving worker morale or customer relations.
But downward communication has several drawbacks, including the following:
Issues with interpretation
Because of the distortion effect and the sluggish feedback for message clarification, downward communication poses interpretation issues.
It's not inspiring
This style of communication does not help with motivation because of the sluggish feedback and reliance on official channels of communication.
Morale plummets
Downward communications can have a detrimental influence on company morale due to the time it takes to communicate and the issue of distorted signals.
Therefore, unidirectional communication as such needs to be altered soon to uphold performance standards and objectives.
Humans at the heart of the employee experience are the future of HR.
Do you want to lose your top talent at an alarming rate? Continue to say, "That's just the way we do things." ‘
The old techniques of doing business don't hold up in today's workforce. Human experience management is mission-critical if you want to keep staff engaged to execute their best work. After all, the previous year has demonstrated that it is people who make a company special. You win when you place employees at the heart of everything.
While work could have come to a halt in 2020, HR attitudes, processes, tools, and technologies ensured that it didn't - and HR leaders aim to sustain some of those achievements as the future of HR unfolds.
Parting Thoughts
We can see a road forward for HR that will necessitate some fundamentally fresh thinking about what HR does and how it is designed to deliver. The path forward could begin with a phased implementation of workforce shaping or a trial project in one of their business divisions to test a more digital experience.
These temporary initiatives, in our opinion, will only be beneficial if they spark a more comprehensive rebuilding of HR skills.
As the business leaders prepare to emerge from its imposed seclusion, HR professionals have an opportunity to reinvent their playbooks for the future of HR from the ground up.
Author Bio:
Parth Shah - Co-Founder, COO |DevX With 10 years of experience in operations and training, Parth is a go-to person for his team and even a multitude of growing start-ups. His knack lies at spotting and supporting start-ups, helping them streamline their processes, and even take their ventures to the next level. After successfully establishing two start-ups and exploring the start-up landscape up-close Parth has learned the nitty-gritty of the industry, which he now shares with fellow entrepreneurs.
5 Candidate Sourcing Techniques Every Recruiter Should Know
Candidate sourcing proves that the best talents for your company could be just around the corner. A study carried out by Entelo revealed that 73% of talent acquisition professionals found highly qualified candidates through sourcing efforts, as compared to other sources, like inbound applicants,reports HR Daily Advisor. So, it’s no surprise that 87% of these talent acquisition professionals have active outbound sourcing efforts to find the most qualified talents for their company. Similarly, if you want to acquire good candidates for your workplace, then you need to follow these sourcing techniques:
1. Establish a strong brand as an employer
Before conducting a search, you need to establish your brand as an employer. Having a good reputation can accelerate your sourcing process and even reduce your hiring costs by 32%,according to Gartner. Moreover, a strong employer brand can go a long way since about 94% of job seekers are looking for companies that have a good reputation within the industry. So, if you want to improve your chances of sourcing top talent, you can start by boosting your employer brand on social media networks like Facebook or LinkedIn. Share your brand’s story and accomplishments on official accounts to show potential applicants what you can offer.
2. Tap into the workforce’s network
One of the quickest ways to build your talent pipeline is to tap into employee and/or employer networks. This is an efficient strategy since the workforce already has a grasp of what you’re looking for in an applicant and what you can offer as a company. Such a method is especially effective now that many professionals regularly engage in remote networking,according to LHH’s post on 5 tips for remote working. Thus, you can ask people in the workforce to write up a list of potential candidates that would fit in your company. Afterward, you can contact these candidates through e-mail or even through professional networking platforms like LinkedIn. Through this strategy, you can easily find trusted and qualified talents for any company role.
3. Look through the recruitment database
You can also source potential candidates by looking into your company’s existing recruitment database. Companies should maintain a database of candidates who have applied in the past. Since their information is already available to the company, you can re-evaluate their resume and examine if they're a fit for the current job positions you can offer. These candidates are more likely to engage with your company since they have already expressed their interest in working with your business in the past. And when the time comes that you need to hire new talent, you can easily reach out to these individuals in your talent pipeline.
4. Utilize online and offline sourcing methods
Aside from leveraging your company networks and the recruitment database, you can also source strong candidates by utilizing both online and offline sourcing strategies.CNBC states that around 55% of recruitersare sourcing potential hires through phone calls while others are using AI job outreach programs. AI-driven solutions speed up the sourcing processes by scanning candidate resumes and conducting interviews. Meanwhile, offline sourcing methods, like career events and conferences, foster trust and increase engagement among potential candidates. As such, you need to use online and offline strategies to source the best candidates for your company.
5. Send an engaging outreach message
Once you’ve found promising candidates for your company, you need to engage them properly by sending a compelling outreach message. Whether you’re contacting these professionals through a social media network or phone call, you need to create a candidate-focused message. This is so they will be more likely to engage with your company. For instance,our article on ‘8 Employee Engagement Statistics You Need to Know in 2021’stated that 33% of employees jump ship because they want to find new challenges. Consequently, you need to emphasize your company’s learning and career opportunities so that candidates will be interested in your offer.Candidate sourcing increases your chances of finding qualified people for your team. To attract the best talent, you must establish your brand, tap into your workforce's network, look into your recruitment database, utilize online/offline methods, and engage potential applicants. By making use of these techniques, you're sure to build an impressive talent pipeline that you can tap into should the company require new hires.
Wrapping Up
Contrary to popular belief, onboarding employees doesn’t end after the applicants are hired and upskilled for their tasks. In many cases, effective onboarding may include a cluster of processes, such as re-skilling and cross-skilling. This is to make them more suitable for the job, regardless of whether it’s remote work or an on-site job. And even if you have remote employee options, you can also onboard remotely with the help of modern tech tools. Just make sure the process is in line with employee recognition and engagement through incentivization and similar programs, which are crucial in employee retention.
Suppose you’re tasked to simplify the onboarding process for forklift employees in Toronto, you could use the tips and insights you’ve gained from this article. Although you may only select the ones appropriate to your needs and situations.
About Author: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
10 Top Practices When Onboarding Employees
The hiring manager is one of the most influential people for the new hires during the first workdays. The manager’s primary role is to help the employee adapt to the new position and ensure that he/she understands the responsibilities and company’s values.
It is possible to compare the hiring manager with the paper writer expert. Both of them provide necessary recommendations, help overcome challenges, and share all vital information to finish the tasks. Here, we will talk about the best practices for the hiring manager to ensure the successful onboarding of the new workers.
1. Start with Preboarding
Starting with pre-boarding is the best strategy to make the whole process comfortable for the new hires. No doubt that the employees suffer from anxiety after they sign a job offer. Thus, the first day at a new company is very stressful. So, the main aim of the hiring manager is to help the new hire overcome this challenge.
Here are the main steps for the pre-boarding:
Send a welcome kit and introducing email to tell about what to expect on the first day;
Make sure that the new employee finished all the admin tasks;
Host informal team session to introduce the new hire to the team;
Prepare the onboarding checklist.
2. Prepare the Plan for Onboarding
One more good idea is to prepare the plan for the whole onboarding. You should list all necessary tasks to complete during this period. Think about what information is crucial to be shared during the first days. A good plan should be well-structured and diverse.
The next step is to split the list of tasks into several periods. Then, you need to set a deadline and plan a meeting after each period. This way, the onboarding will be effective to its full extent.
3. Introduce Company’s Values
The company’s culture and values are among the top interview questions asked by job seekers. And it is not surprising at all, as the values are a crucial part of the working process. So, the hiring manager's goal is to introduce and demonstrate the company's culture as soon as possible.
You can prepare presentations or send an email/a short guide with main values. However, only reading about it won’t be effective. Additionally, you can engage the team members in this process. Other workers can share the stories from the company’s experience to demonstrate each of the values.
4. Involve the Team in Onboarding Process
Social interaction is also an integral part of the onboarding process. The new hire should feel the part of the company from the first days on the position. That’s why the hiring manager should inform other workers about the new worker and encourage them to welcome him/her.
One more nice idea is to arrange a welcome meeting where every team member will introduce himself/herself and talk about main responsibilities. This way, the employee will get a more clear vision of the team and main work processes.
5. Assign a Teammate to Help the New Hire
The next step is to assign a teammate who will help the new hire to adapt to the company’s atmosphere. Sometimes, employees feel confused when asking for advice from the hiring managers or the team lead. Hence, someone from the teammates can provide a helping hand during the first days of work. And the new hire won’t hesitate to ask mundane but very important questions.
6. Let the New Hires Learn in the Workflow
No doubt that it is easier to learn something new in the workflow. This way, the new employees will get the answers to crucial questions right when they need them. One of the best ways to ensure workflow learning is to prepare the course with specific information about the main job responsibilities.
Creating a collaborative learning platform is also useful to provide the new hires access to all mandatory data during the onboarding process. Hence, the workers will combine the work process with necessary learning.
7. Do not Overload with New Information
The hiring managers should remember that the excessive amount of new information during the first workdays is not a good idea at all. If you want to improve work efficiency and ensure that the worker adapts to all processes, divide the whole data into several blocks.
Provide enough time for the employee to learn all the information and understand how to use new data in practice. Also, the new hire should have an opportunity to ask questions during the onboarding process concerning each process in the workflow.
8. Conduct Regular Check-Ins
Conducting regular check-ins will ensure that the new hire learns all necessary information. Also, it is a nice opportunity to discuss the progress, find out possible challenges, and prepare the strategy on how to solve all issues.
One more benefit of regular check-ins is the ability to analyze the worker’s performance. So, make sure that you set up the deadline for each training period and arrange a meeting at the end of the timeline.
9. Collect and Analyze the Feedback
Collecting and analyzing feedback from new hires is necessary to understand how the employees are engaged in the process. Furthermore, it helps to clarify whether the new worker understands his/her role and the company’s policies.
While communicating with the new employee, ask whether he/she is satisfied with the communication with the manager and other team members. Finally, ask for possible suggestions on how to improve the onboarding process.
10. Celebrate First Year Anniversary
After the new hire finishes the onboarding and probation periods, it does not mean that you should forget about him/her. As the studies show, the onboarding process continues right till the first anniversary. So, it will be a good opportunity to celebrate and reflect on achievements.
The hiring manager should discuss the main employee's achievements, set up new goals for future development, and ensure that the worker is satisfied and happy with his/her position
Final Words
Now you know all the secrets of effective employee onboarding. But we would like to add that the new hires are really vulnerable and need your help and support. So, remember that you are the main person who will guide him/her for quite a long period.
Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
5 Tips For Implementing A Book Club For Your Remote Workforce
The pandemic rapidly accelerated the rate at which companies transitioned to remote work. A trend that had been growing steadily in recent years was forced to become the norm across nearly every industry. And, while there are certainly some things to like about remote work, it does come with some notable complications.
One of those complications is the difficulty of maintaining strong relationships between co-workers. Without physically seeing each other each day, co-workers can drift apart, and those relationships may be lost. At Service Direct, we didn’t want to see that happen to our teams. Not only are strong relationships good for business, but they are also a positive influence on overall well-being.
As the pandemic has drug on, we have explored various initiatives to promote employee engagement and connection. One of the most successful of those ventures has been our virtual book club. Making more time for reading is always a good thing and reading the same book as others opens the opportunity for rewarding, enriching discussions. If you would like to create a book club in your organization, consider the following tips that we have picked up through our experiences.
1. You Need a Leader
An enthusiastic leader for the book club is an essential piece of the puzzle. This is not a job that should be forced onto anyone in the organization – it should be a volunteer position for someone who loves to read and wants to share that love with others. It’s important to have a leader for this project because you’ll need a point of contact for communication, someone to make book selections, and more. You might choose to stick with one leader for the long run of this club, or you may rotate leadership duties if you have multiple people who are interested.
2. Sort Out Logistics in Advance
A virtual book club can be quite simple, but there are some important logistics that should be worked out from the start to avoid confusion or frustration. Some of those logistical points include the following –
How will books be selected? This is an important one since the books selected impact participation. Our approach is to have the leader of the group create a shortlist of a few titles, and the members of the club can then vote on the one they want to read. The book that gets the most votes will be the first one that the group tackles. This democratic approach takes away the pressure of making the final selection from falling on the leader alone.
Are financial resources available? As a business, you might decide to provide some financing for this club, so books can be purchased at no expense to the club members. Of course, you can run a book club without taking that step but make it clear upfront that readers will be responsible for buying their own books.
When will the club meet? There are two basic formats for book clubs – you can hold meetings at intervals while reading the book, or one meeting at the end when everyone is finished. We chose the latter of those two options, but either one can work nicely. Just make sure your club meets on a regular cadence to keep everyone on track.
3.Keep It Fun!
The whole point of a book club is to have fun reading new books and chatting about them with others. It shouldn’t feel like homework! Make it clear to encourage employees that they are welcome to join whenever they would like, and they can also stop reading if they aren’t enjoying the book or just don’t have time. People in your organization already have enough on their plates, so you don’t want to accidentally add something that feels more like an obligation than a hobby. Make sure the emphasis is on fun and enjoyment right from the start.
4. Don’t Fall into a Pattern
It would be easy enough to fall into a pattern of reading the same kinds of books over and over again. This mistake could lead to your book club having a relatively short shelf life before people get tired of the material. Make it a point to read different kinds of books, and always ask for suggestions from club members to see what they are interested in reading. Opening the club to new perspectives and types of literature can go a long way toward improving the experience for everyone.
5. Maintain a Respectful, Welcoming Environment
Our last point is perhaps the most important for creating a successful book club within your organization. It’s essential that all are welcome in the club, and that differing opinions are not met with resistance or arguments. Some books will include materials that could spark passionate discussions on various topics. Whether those discussions are political, religious, or on any other topic where strong emotions are involved, make sure the club stays civil and respectful.
There are plenty of different ways to get started with a virtual book club, but we hope the tips listed above help you get started in the right direction. When executed correctly, this initiative can encourage your employees to read more and stay connected at the same time. Good luck and have fun reading!
Author Bio: Matt Buchanan is the Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer at Service Direct, a technology company that offers local lead generation solutions for service businesses. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University. He has 15+ years of expertise in local lead generation, sales, search engine marketing, and building and executing growth strategies.
10 Employee Recruitment Strategies for Successful Hiring
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that hiring and retaining top talent is one of the most crucial goals of any business. After all, a company is only as good as its people. However, with digital advancement and increased competition locally and internationally, this can become increasingly harder to stand out as an employer.
To help you with this, in this article, we are looking at what a recruitment strategy is and ten recruitment strategies to make your hiring process a success.
What Is A Recruitment Strategy, And Why Do You Need It?
The fundamental definition of a recruitment strategy is the plan that explains what role you are hiring for, how much time you have, what tools you are going to use, and the requirements for successful candidates.
In today's world,artificial intelligence is changing the recruitment process, and it's essential to recognize that a "one size fits all" approach to recruitment strategies is no longer effective. Depending on factors like your company's goals and the timeframe for recruitment, the optimal strategy may differ from case to case. To stay ahead in this dynamic landscape, it's crucial to cultivate innovative ideas that leverage AI and streamline the recruitment process. These ideas should align with your company's overall goals, be practical to implement, and be easy to communicate to all stakeholders.
If carefully planned and implemented, recruiting strategies will help you position yourself in the job market as a reliable employer, helping you attract the people you are looking for.
1. Begin with the basics
Before we jump right into hiring, there are several basics that you need to consider to make sure your hiring strategy is a success. Here are they:
Know your ideal candidate - First things first, for each position you hire, you need to know the perfect candidate: educational background, experience, and what they'll be working on. Not having a clear idea of who you are looking for will result in wasted time, and you may end up with someone who is not the right fit.
Consider your recruiting metrics and adjust your goals - Your recruitment metrics can give you an idea of your pain points. After understanding this, you can change your strategy accordingly to improvesales workflow and achieving better results.
Invest in recruitment tools - In case you are not yet using recruitment tools, consider adding them to your HR toolbox. They can help you speed up the hiring process and save on some additional costs. From CV-review software to video interviewing tools based on your needs, there are many options to choose from.
Be where your candidates are – No matter if you plan to hire remotely or you need on-site staff, to find the best talent out there, you need to post your job ads where they will get the most exposure. For example, EuroOptic used Lensa to look for candidates for different positions in different locations. Online platforms are often the best places to reach more qualified people, no matter your industry.
These are not the only steps you need to take before starting your hiring process, but they are some of the most crucial ones that you shouldn't ignore. One of them is expenses, you should consider such things ashow much it costs to hire a developer.
2. Invest in employee branding
When trying to attract talent, having a strong employer brand is crucial for recruiting strategy. More and more companies realize this, putting time, effort, and resources into positioning themselves as great employers. Some key benefits of employee branding are:
Attracting top talent - People want to work for companies that have a good reputation. And the highly qualified also have the opportunity to do so. Being known as a company with great job security, flexibility, and professional development opportunities will help you secure top people in the field.
Reduced cost and time per hire - Having a strong employer brand makes you an attractive choice for many qualified potential applicants in shorter time frames, as well as reducing the budget you need to spend on paid ads and job postings.
Retaining of existing employees - Strong employer brand allows you to attract top talent and results in lower employee turnover. In addition, your brand helps you create a bond with your potential employees even before starting the hiring process when they consider applying. Later, this connection results in higher levels of employee engagement and dedication towards the company.
Employee branding and online reputation management for recruiters are becoming increasingly important, so make sure not to miss this step.
3. Optimize the career page on your website
Many companies out there make the mistake of ignoring the career page on their website, as they assume the website is only for
Your career page represents your company to the potential applicant. That's why it should be appropriately set up. Apart from including detailed information on each position, talk about your company values, beliefs, working style, and vital statistics that you feel the applicants should know. Your company page gives you a chance to "promote" yourself as a workplace and show the applicants why they want to join you. This can be done by incorporating team photos, company videos, and employee testimonials. Elevate your photo quality with AI and video quality before you upload any media to your site, as this will improve your SEO and ranking on search engines.Moreover, make sure to incorporate proper user experience design, use automated WordPress hosting for more security and speed, and share interesting content to engage more candidates.
Try to expose your career page on as many platforms as you can, both online and offline. For example, if you are participating in local job fairs, or going to professional events, make sure to include the link to your career page on your company business cards and flyers so that attendees later have the chance to visit it.
Include in your career page website chatbots which will be a very welcoming gesture to the applicants who want to apply for your vacancies. Chatbots can be responsible for answering the primary questions and satisfying the needs of applicants, for example, if there are any issues while filling the application form.
4. Use social media
Social media has revolutionized our lives. It is no longer only a way to connect with our loved ones, but one of the key ways to find products, learn news, and whatnot. It also changed not only the way companies work but also the way they hire. As hiring switches increasingly to digital, social media is becoming a valuable source for recruiters to look for new talent. Here's a number: 40 million people each week search for jobs on LinkedIn. And if your company doesn't use this tool to headhunt and hire employers, you may be missing out.
There are many ways you can use social platforms for recruiting. The primary one is, of course, directly posting the job announcements. For example, LinkedIn and Facebook currently have separate "Jobs" sections to announce, and potential candidates can apply now. Another way is to create a post about the position or even use paid ads to promote it.
Additionally, you can also use social media marketing as part of your employer branding strategy by making posts about the company culture, sharing photos and videos from the events, introducing your team to make a positive attitude towards your company among professionals. Introducing the company to the audience is one of the biggest social media trends. It will help you kill two birds with one stone: reach potential applicants, and improve the company's marketing efforts. You can also seek the support of influencers who became very trendy in recent years in social media. They might use their influence on their audience to promote your company, which will arouse interest to apply for jobs. By the way, you can find influencers by scraping Google or using any other tools made especially for that process.
5. Incorporate referral programs
Referral programs are becoming another recruiting norm that businesses around the world started to approve. This is how it works: employers encourage current employees to refer qualified candidates for some type of reward, often financial. In essence, referral programs give recruiters access to the professional connections of the team, turning each member of the team into a recruiter. In addition to traditional referral programs, companies are also exploring innovative ways to implement a referral program for B2B connections, extending the reach of their recruitment efforts. By the way, you can also involve business mentors in those programs, so it will become more practical and useful for future employees.
This strategy has several benefits. The key one is that referred employees usually perform better and stay in the company longer. Other benefits are the reduced hiring costs, as the financial benefit given to the employee is often less expensive than the recruitment marketing budget you'd need to allocate. Additionally, the hiring process happens quicker because someone is acquainted with the referred candidate's working style and qualifications. Finally, well-designed and managed referral programs can also improve employee satisfaction, showing them that their opinion is valued.
6. Have company culture and benefits videos
Company culture videos or even videos about the benefits you have for the employees are a great way to attract potential team members and give them a feel for what's in it.
A well-thought-out and crafted clever and funny video can work wonders in attracting candidates and wanting them to learn more about what you have to offer them both as a brand and as an employer. Additionally, using text to video tools can enhance these videos, making them even more engaging and informative.
Another great thing about videos is that they no longer require significant investment to create. There are various tools available that allow you to make videos online without having to hire a crew. You can then use the video across platforms online and even as TV ads.
7. Explore niche job boards
Niche job boards are becoming increasingly popular among recruiters. The main reason for this is that they allow them to cut through the clutter and directly reach the talent for the position you are looking to hire. You can think of niche job boards as tools for market segmentation of employees. While these platforms don't receive the amount of traffic hiring giants like Indeed, they are targeted by experienced industry professionals and are great for hiring very niche technical talent. They are also more accessible price-wise.
However, it's essential to know that because niche job boards don't receive massive traffic, you need to be very specific about promoting your position there. Therefore, your job description needs to be very specific and carefully tailored, so the people visiting those boards know precisely what the role will include. Adding a QR Code to these Job Boards will help you give further job role information and ease of applying. Using a QR Code generator can easily make dynamic and secure job recruitment.
With niche job boards, you're likely to put more effort than with regular job posting platforms, and you'll reach fewer people, but they'll be the right people.
Best alternative to Indeed
ZipRecruiter is a better alternative to popular job sites such as Indeed to help you source quality candidates that exactly match your job profile. It doesn’t source jobs from multiple job sites and present them to you—instead, it posts your job details on multiple job portals (read 100s of job sites like Indeed) simultaneously.
You might be wondering—is ZipRecruiter better than Indeed, then?
The answer depends on your goals, requirements, and the industry you’re targeting to source candidates for. Say you’re a company with a decent hiring budget looking to get better visibility on job sites and attract just the right candidates for the role, ZipRecruiter is all you need.
On the other hand, if you’re a small or medium business owner with a limited hiring budget, investing in ZipRecruiter might not be the best option for you. With ZipRecruiter, you might need to keep a job posting up for long stretches of time to find the perfect fit.
8. Do reference checks
The reference check is the process during which the recruiter checks and confirms the information in the applicant's CV to make sure if it's true. Additionally, they also contact the references to ask for feedback about the applicant. This helps recruiters verify the applicant's skills to make sure that they are the right fit for the position. During reference checks, it's common for recruiters to assess the applicant on the critical skills essential for the role and soft skills like punctuality, communication, and overall attitude.
For example, if you want to hire a graphic designer, the CV of the candidate should at least contain professional skills like making a logo, creating illustrations, photo-editing, etc. Check carefully every sentence contained in the CV to find the specialist that fits the hiring position.
As a rule, the reference check is the last step of the recruitment process when the hiring manager makes the final clarifications before completing the job offer.
9. Contact passive candidates
Promoting your job offers and then choosing candidates from the applicant pool is great, but it's not a guaranteed way to find the right person. Sometimes, notwithstanding the number of people who've applied, you cannot find the person who is the right fit.
Here's when the passive applicant pool can come to help. But who is a passive applicant? The person who is not actively looking for employment or may even be employed seems to be a good fit for the position. LinkedIn is one way to reach those candidates, but there are also many other platforms such as SeekTalent that you can use.
When reaching out to them, make sure to craft a personalized message telling them about your company and why you think they would be a perfect fit for the available position. Try to keep the conversation engaging and offer to organize a minor call or even a meeting to discuss possible cooperation.
10. Improve the interview process
It's hard to overestimate the importance of the interview process. Be it online or offline, and the interview is the first time your company representative will meet with the applicant face to face as part of the hiring process. For a successful and effective interview process, there are several vital points that you need to consider. Click here for more information.
Don't put the interview off for too long - If there is a long time frame between the application and the interview, the applicant may be put off, or they may find something else. Take your time to screen all the applicants and carefully assess them, but make sure it doesn't take months before you call the candidate for an interview. If they don’t pass the screening section, send them an email notifying them. You may have hundreds of applicants, which may seem time-consuming, but using different SaaS email templates and setting up an automated email will simplify the task significantly. Overall, using email marketing in the hiring process is a good decision, as it will keep the official part and make it easier to keep communication with the potential employees.
Try to be innovative - Video interviews are becoming increasingly popular. While they may not fully allow the parties to feel for each other, they offer convenience and cut the time needed for the interview. Don't stick only to in-person interviews but try to provide options that may benefit you and the potential hire.
Share the hiring process with the applicant - As we've discussed earlier in the article, you need to have your hiring strategy planned out in the beginning. If you've done it, you probably know all the steps both you and the applicant need to follow. For example, if there is a task and an interview with the team lead, share it with the applicant upfront to know what to expect.
Discuss finances - If the pay range wasn't part of the announcement, you'd probably need to discuss it during the interview. Ask the applicant about the pay range they feel comfortable with and then discuss your company's amount in mind. This will save a lot of time down the road and help avoid any misunderstanding later.
Try to communicate all the concerns you and the applicant have in a friendly and accessible manner, ask them questions, and clarify if they have any. Then, after the interview, make sure to reach out to them with the decision as soon as possible, be it positive or negative.
Conclusion
Having a well-developed recruitment strategy is not just a need but a must for any company for long-term success. The process and tactics discussed in this article are some of the safest bets for recruiting the best candidates. Take your time to experiment with different tools and strategies to see what works best for your company and brings the best results.
Good luck!
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Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
Guide to Employee Rewards and Recognition Budget
The workforce of the 21st century not only needs good pay and benefits but also appreciation from the management and peers to boost their engagement and productivity. While most companies already have some kind of incentive program to motivate their employees, many are just starting to implement rewards and recognition programs that their employees appreciate. The success of such programs relies on having a robust strategy that is backed up by a steady budget. Before you go ahead with working out your employee rewards and recognition budget, it is essential to consider variables such as the overall goals, recognition methods that the employees appreciate, and the existing budget allocated. With all that said, here is how you arrive at a rewards and recognition budget:
Start from existing employee recognition budget
Even companies that have no formal recognition programs have some budget allocated for rewards and recognition from employee benefits. The issue with not having a strategy is that companies might end up spending more than necessary, or in some cases, less. The rewards can be in the form of employee celebration activities, lunches, or thank you cards. The initiatives in such instances have little accountability and no tracking of the budget, making the whole process inefficient.
So how much should you spend on employee recognition realistically? One recent work survey by SHRM found that the number should be greater than 1% of the payroll. The HR professionals in the survey reported that the recognition programs were “excellent” when the budget was at least 1% or more of the payroll. Depending on the profitability some organizations might spend higher and even go up to 10% of the payroll. What is essential to understand is that rewards and recognition programs are a cost-effective way to boost employee morale and productivity and save on the losses incurred from disengagement and attrition. An added benefit is that companies can also promote themselves through job advertisements and social media that they are a desirable employer.
Introduction to Conflict in the Workplace(and How it Erodes Productivity Culture)
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Consider the impact of your rewards and recognition program
If you are setting up a rewards and recognition program, it is done with the goal of making a significant impact on the employees. Consider the stats: a study by AttaCoin revealed that 88% of the respondents agreed that companies should reward employees effectively but only 41% believed that their employers did so. Going further, an effective rewards program made 90% of the respondents feel that their work made a difference. Also note that employee productivity will grow to 1.7% annually.
Effective rewards and recognition program has to be frequent, timely, specific, visible, and value-based to motivate employees to become highly engaged. And there are benefits to it; companies with employees who are highly engaged are 21% more profitable. In the same survey, it was found that 69% of employees are willing to work harder if they were better appreciated by their employers. This shows the power of recognition as it is human nature to be perceived as valued by our fellow peers. While monetary incentives are strong motivators, recognition needs to be varied and performed at different levels as was found in a recent employee engagement report. When it came to highly engaged employees, 84% of them had received recognition for going the extra mile.
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Type of Rewards and Recognition Program
Whether you have allocated based on a percentage of the payroll or set a flat amount, the recognition budget per employee can be split into any of these popular recognition programs:
Spot awards
Spot awards are popular with the new generation of the workforce as it is based on immediate recognition. The employees are awarded on the spot for a task well-done or a specific project. Spot awards are a wonderful choice when it comes to frequent and ongoing recognition. They help to recognize and reinforce behaviors and efforts that are valued by the company.
Performance recognition
Performance recognition relies on the output of employees and they are a great way to boost engagement in teams. The recognition rewards motivate employees to reach targets be it in sales or in other programs such as safety or wellness initiatives. Performance recognition also relies heavily on reinforcing expected behaviors through rewards.
Social recognition
Social recognition appeals to our need to be appreciated and rewarded by the group. It can also be used as a way to reinforce organizational culture. Platforms for social recognition allow all the initiatives to be visible in one place and employees earn points that can be redeemed in the form of gifts or merchandise. This form of recognition has gained more popularity since the work-from-home culture became the norm.
Service awards program
This is the traditional model of appreciation that has been around for decades. With a service awards program, employees are recognized for their long service to the organization. It is known to improve employee retention as studies show that a milestones program makes employees in the US stay for an average of two more years.
To learn even more about managing remote teams and keeping employees working at home highly engaged, download our ebook now.
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Other recognition ideas on a budget
To diversify your rewards and recognition program, you can also try:
Perks and Benefits: Non-monetary benefits seem to have even more impact on employees than cash prizes. Offering gift cards or coupons for their favorite brand adds a personal touch to the rewards program. Benefits on specific brands, restaurants, eCommerce multi vendor marketplaces, fitness centers, and digital rewards are good places to start.
Anniversary/Festival Incentives: Gifts for anniversaries is how the company can demonstrate their appreciation for the employee’s tenure. Gifts on festive occasions such as birthdays, festivals, and the birth of children also add a thoughtful, personal touch.
Social media appreciation: Apart from the recognition you give the employee on the company’s internal platform, recognition on popular social media platforms can go a long way in boosting the employee’s morale. Recognition of achievement on a social media platform where friends and family of the employee can view the appreciation is a great self-esteem booster.
Peer-to-peer recognition: Having their peers appreciate them for a job well-done is sometimes more effective than having the higher management do the same. Peer-to-peer recognition is known to boost employee engagement.
“Our staff has praised the increased communications level Workmates delivers. We use it to communicate important project matters and give staff specific ‘kudos’ or even recognize their birthdays. More importantly, we use Workmates to clarify important project details that needed rapid dissemination among the entire team.”
Christopher Baggott Chief Executive Officerator of Medlinks Cost Containment, Inc. and Medlinks Staffing, LLC.
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Important Considerations for employee rewards and recognition budget
Streamline rewards and recognition on one platform
Whether the organization has a few dozen employees or a few thousand, having a single platform to manage rewards and recognition programs is easier when it is digitized. Technology platforms help manage the programs effectively and save money over traditional ways of management. The platform helps everybody stay on the same page and gives a holistic view of the rewards and recognition program to the respective departments.
Tailor the approach for high impact
Depending on the specific goals of your department or the organization, tailor the program to fit what you want to prioritize. Since the costs can vary significantly with the type of program chosen, you need to scale the rewards and recognition efforts to match the goals. So how do you reward employees on a budget without going overboard? Use a peer-to-peer program to suit the budget instead of a festival incentive or milestone-based award. Peer-to-peer programs are highly rewarding while being low-cost per transaction.
Watch out for unforeseen costs
What catches the HR departments by surprise are the hidden fees associated with some platforms in the forms of technology fees, set up charges, and shipping and handling charges. When planning employee recognition ideas on a budget, it becomes even more important to be precise about the costs involved.
Keep Taxes in mind
To avoid a nasty surprise in the form of additional penalties slapped on your program, start your budgeting keeping taxation in mind. Cash awards and other prizes can be considered as taxable income under the law while some reward programs are exempted from it. So ensure that your tax advisor is kept in the loop from the beginning of the budgeting process. This is also the time when having a single platform to manage rewards and recognition saves tremendous amounts of time and effort by keeping the information in one place.
Spread out the employee recognition budget on different programs
When you set up your rewards and recognition program on a single platform, it becomes easier to show appreciation in many different forms ranging from social media shout-outs to highlighting accomplishments during important meetings and offering gift cards. The variation adds more meaning to the recognition and rewards employees in a manner that they are most satisfied with. Therefore spread out the budget into several programs other than the norm such as health and wellness, upskilling programs, employee referrals, and more.
Conclusion
Rewards and recognition are an integral part of the strategy to boost the morale of the modern-day workforce and make them more engaged, productive, and satisfied with their job. So how much do you budget on employee rewards and recognition such that it gives the most bang for the buck? The simplest answer is greater than 1% of the payroll. However, there are advantages to pushing it higher in organizations where recognition is at the core of the talent strategy.
Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
Recognition & Rewards System For The Remote Employees
Employees spend ample time of their day working for your company. So, it is very important that they get recognized for all the hard work they do. In a traditional office setting, it is fairly easy to communicate appreciation for a completed task. However, with the current remote work scenario, it has become tougher for managers to show appreciation. And there is a higher chance of employee satisfaction drop because of the lack of recognition.
According to a study, an employee who has gotten recognition is 63% more likely to stay with you for long periods of time. Whereas another study says that productivity increases by 31% when employees are happy and well-engaged. All these study results only make it more obvious that we need to focus more on making the employees happy.
We should also mention that implementation of Recognition and Reward programs has in itself has become a tedious process. This blog will detail all the things that you need to know about setting up an efficient Recognition and Rewards system for your remote workers.
Steps to Implement a Recognition and Rewards Program
Step #1: Assessment
During this phase, you should take a look at the existing RR program. For understanding the current program, reviews from your employees will be helpful. This is where the actual assessment starts. You will be running focus groups that aim to assess the effectiveness of the current RR program.
The focus groups you organize must enable your employees to voice their opinions. And hence, it is always better to have separate focus groups for the management level employees and others. Get to know what your employees feel about your current reward system and how you can improve them. The next step in assessing your current RR is by conducting employee satisfaction surveys. These surveys must focus solely on asking questions about the appreciation they get in the remote workspace and how it affects their attitude.
The final step in the assessment phase is writing a report on what changes you need to implement on the system. Furthermore, the report should also elaborate on the level of employees who would be directly impacted by the change in the system. For example, if you have remote employees working at different managerial levels, you should address level-specific issues in your report.
Step #2: Design
Ascertain which characteristics of employees will earn rewards and those that won’t. Your aim during this step is to design a model that offers benefits for the employees at the right time. Because, when it comes to remote work, late recognition is close to no recognition at all. In this step, you will also be concentrating on coming up with the types of rewards that you can give to your employees. For example, it may be incentives, or something as simple as gift cards.
Step #3: Execution
Now that you have completed designing the new Recognition and Rewards System, you must implement it in your organization. You can execute the program for your remote team by addressing the following factors:
Eligibility
Remember the eligibility criteria you set during the design process? Put that into action by setting up an employee rewards software solution. For a remote team, there’s a high chance of forgetting your back-end employees. Eligibility criteria will let you be more inclusive and make sure that a spectrum of employees gets rewarded through your newer system.
Support from top management
During the execution process, make sure that all the leaders approve of such a large-scale operation. Let them get involved and show their support for the program. For example, if you decide to recognize an employee’s talents through social media, a simple comment from the top management can make the employee’s day. And thus, improve their engagement.
Measurement
Ensure that before you reward an employee, they have met the criteria for completing a task. Remote working conditions can sometimes make it tough to effectively measure milestones. So, it is necessary that you implement a proper system that lets you gather all the required data. You can also use this data to determine the progress of a project.
Training
Training your employees to get accustomed to the new program is vital for its success. Employees should not feel forced to achieve the newly set goals for rewards. Instead, you should train to easily understand the benefits of the new Recognition and Rewards system. Communication is the only tool that will help make this process easier for you and your employees. Furthermore, assure them that the remote working condition will not in any way affect the rewarding system of the organization. That is how you get your employees to work with proper motivation.
Step #4: Evaluation
Like any other managerial process, this one also has an evaluation phase. This is a step overlooked by many failed reward program managers. The needs of employees constantly change, and so should the rewards. For instance, instead of just appreciating an employee on a Zoom call, post an appreciation post on your social media platforms. It will help them boast about their achievement among a bigger and more personal audience. You can start your evaluation by preparing a before and after document.
Various Ways In Which You Can Encourage Remote Workers
In this section of the blog, we will discuss the various ways in which you can show your appreciation for remote workers. If you give both onsite and remote workers, try to create a Recognition and Rewards system that prioritizes remote workers. There are many hurdles when it comes to implementing this for remote workers. But, everything is surmountable. Let us give you a few ideas for engaging your remote team.
Provide technology allowance
Technology plays an important part in making remote work possible. So, consider awarding your remote employees with an allowance to purchase better equipment.
Offer workspace upgrades
Assume that you got valuable new clients through the hard work of a single sales employee. Get them new upgrades for their home workspace. Buy them a comfortable chair as a symbol of appreciation. Let the other remote employees know about such benefits. Post this on social media to motivate others.
Provide health insurance
In these trying times, it is vital to take care of your employees’ health. Why not offer them healthcare benefits. There are many other things apart from health insurance that can interest your employees. For example, a gym membership, or a simple health drinks package.
Provide access to further learning opportunities
If you believe that an employee will be of more use after a certain academic program, why not enroll them in it. Fund them for research, course, or a training module that will help them progress in their field as well as in the organization.
Offer them break time
When a team of remote workers has completed a certain task successfully, give them a break from work. It may not be entirely productive at the moment. However, it will have a positive impact on the employees’ attitude towards your organization. Which eventually improves your employee retention rates.
Conclusion
Technology has made Recognition and Rewards systems easier to implement. Cloud solutions offer customizable options that let you have more control over your rewards program. It will help you provide timely rewards and recognition for your remote employees. Pro-tip: Communicate with your employees to arrive at the best decisions. More connection equals the success of the program.
About Author: Hetvi works as a Product Associate at Refrens.com - Online Invoice Generator India's most powerful platform for freelancer's growth. She has worked for some renowned companies as a Brand and Digital marketing associate. You can follow Refrens.com on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Mastering the Art of Remote Job Interviews: 10 Essential Tips for Success
A typical remote interview is conducted almost entirely over the phone, the typical interviewee will often get the opportunity to answer questions either over the phone or on Skype or as a voice-over the telephone.
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What is an Effective Remote Job Interview?
Over the phone is significantly more popular than Skype, but is also more interviewers' preference for their work. This is because over the phone is more personal and interviewers can hear what the interviewee sounds like.
Telephone interviews are conducted very differently than in-person interviews, so it's important to know some of the typical things to avoid so you can get the best.
For many, a remote job interview is a chance to get a foot in the door for a company that may not have a local presence. This can be a great opportunity for people who live in a rural area, have a disability that limits them from being physically present for an interview, or don't have a car. Remote job interviews are less common than in-person interviews, but they are becoming more popular. In order to get the most out of your interview, it's important to have specific tips on what you should do before, during, and after the interview. Before the Interview: Unplug from your current work environment and make sure your Internet connection is strong, learn about the company's mission and any notable projects. Complete your research on the company, including employee reviews.
How to prepare for your Effective Remote Job Interview
The keys to preparing for an interview are to review your resume, think about your strengths, do your research on the company, and get clear on the questions you want to ask.
It is possible that you may one day have a remote job interview. Maybe you're a military spouse. Maybe you're a recent college graduate who just moved to a new city for a new job. Maybe you're a family caregiver who has been searching for a new job but has been unsuccessful in your search because the job requires a lot of travel that you can't do for family reasons. In any of these cases, you may be interviewing for a job that you will have to do remotely.
1. One way to ensure that your tone of voice is appropriate is to practice modulating your voice volume. One way to do this is to take a deep breath and then speak, rather than speaking right away.
2. Start by following best practices Before you ever arrive at an interview, make sure to honor the following best practices: Research the company, including their mission, values, and history Put together a portfolio of your skills and accomplishments Pick a professional outfit Pick a professional hairstyle Pick a professional makeup look Pick a professional outfit for your interview.
3. Set up your interview gear. Arriving at the company with good energy is key. It makes a good first impression and leaves a better impression on those you are meeting, as well as those observing. Make sure your phone is fully charged. Bring a small notepad with you to take notes on questions that come up or bring a laptop to take notes on the spot. Often working in an interview is the same experience people have at work. You need to be productive in the time you are given. Bring any technology you need to accomplish this. Charge it the night before.
10 Tips to Have an Effective Remote Job Interview in 2021
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1. Prepare to Answer Questions
Since it can be very difficult to come up with a perfect answer to a difficult question, employers will often ask their potential employees to prepare for an interview by thinking of some questions they might be asked. Here are some potential questions and the best way to answer each one.
Describe yourself.
I am an accomplished individual with strong interpersonal skills.
What are your strengths?
I stay organized, am an excellent problem solver, and am capable of multitasking.
What are your weaknesses?
I can be impatient at times, but I also work hard to overcome that.
How has this company made an impact on your life?
2. Find a Quiet Room
Remote interviews are becoming more popular in the world of business, but many companies are struggling to make them happen. Small office spaces, high internet speeds, and modern technology are all making this type of meeting possible. But the one thing that remains the most difficult is finding a quiet meeting place. A recent study showed that 74% of employees surveyed agree that quiet meeting rooms, such as conference rooms and private offices, are the most important thing for a successful remote meeting. It's important to find a room where there isn't any noise, and the first question to ask is, "Is it quiet?" A common location to find a quiet room is a conference room. There you'll likely need to reserve the room for the interview, but you don't need a formal reservation.
Networking with a remote person is a different experience from networking with a person from a secure company with central offices. Remote workers don’t have the same conveniences.
3. Be Ready to Answer Questions
Many folks don't realize that there is a correlation between the position they hold and how they answer questions. It's important to understand the appropriate response and how you should give it. For instance, one may typically hold a degree depending on their particular position. This degree should be stated in the appropriate response. There are some questions that if answered, could reveal confidential information or personal opinions.
4. Use Headphones
Tired of having a video conference in a noisy conference room? Consider using a conference call service in which both participants will have a conference call session in their own conference room. You’ll be able to have a much more effective and comfortable interview that way!
5. Avoid Distractions
Distractions can be a problem during remote interviews. Maintain a professional tone and be mindful of the time of day. For example, it may be difficult to concentrate on your interview if you’re using your laptop and the TV is on in the background.
6. Tell the Truth
One of the most important aspects of an effective remote interview is trust. Make sure you are being honest about your responsibilities so you can be confident that you are demonstrating that you are a hard worker who can put in the time. The interviewer will appreciate that you are not taking the job lightly and are willing to commit to it.
7. Be Wary of Camera Angles
In order to be successful in a remote interview, you need to make sure that your image is clear and recognizable. To ensure that, adjust the camera angle so the interviewer has an unobstructed view of you. It's also important to prepare for technical problems before the interview. Make sure you have your laptop charged and with you for emergencies. You can't be sure how long the interview might go, so plan accordingly. If you need to cut the interview for any reason, just say something like "I'm sorry, I'm needed back at the office."
8. Avoid Giving Extensive Personal Info
The interview process can be a nerve-racking experience for anyone. Getting the job is the ultimate goal, but there are many variables that can affect the outcome, such as how you present yourself during the interview. Those who are interviewing remotely should be mindful of the distances that separate them during the process. Wave your hand to see if they want to go to the next question. Do not be overly personal. It is important to stay professional and to avoid making assumptions about the other person. It is important for the interviewee to communicate well and to be prompt. This will provide the interviewer with all the required information they need to make an informed decision.
9. Use Google Docs for communication
Modern technology has come a long way just recently. I've been using email for communication at work for years, but these days, many companies are moving towards more digital forms of communication. One tool that has really caught on in the past year or so is Google Apps - which is made up of Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, etc. The majority of my colleagues have switched to Gmail at my workplace. It's pretty easy to use and contains most of the features that you would expect from an email provider like filters, spam protection, and the like. What really sets Gmail apart is that it is integrated with other Google Apps that can be accessed through the browser.
10. Schedule the interview for a specific hour
You should always specify a time for your interview. Keeping your appointment is important for both parties. Employers will appreciate your punctuality and you will be able to start on time, or at a time that best suits you. You can also give yourself enough time to arrive at your interview on time, as well as to prepare for questions they may ask. To be punctual, it is best to specify an absolute start time, as opposed to a specific date and time. It will allow both parties to be as prepared as possible as it can be difficult to plan your schedule around an absolute timeframe. Regardless of your time zone, it is important to remember that the interviewer is inviting you to their office and they have a certain comfort level in being in a separate office. Remote interviews are a challenge for everyone, but be sure to show up a little early to account for any delays.
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Author Bio: Kashyapi Prajapati has been involved in the world of accounting software, SEO and cloud computing from a very long time and currently, she is working as a lead content writer with Cloudwalks, a QuickBooks cloud hosting service which offers affordable QuickBooks hosting pricing. Cloud computing and SEO is what she eats and drinks.
5 Creative Employee Reward Ideas
One of the most cost-effective ways to improve the performance of your organization is simply to start recognizing –– and rewarding –– the great work of your employees.
According to Quantum Workforce, when employees believe their efforts will be recognized, they are 2.7X more likely to feel highly engaged at work. That’s important because a meta-analysis from Gallup reveals that high employee engagement leads to:
41% lower absenteeism
17% higher productivity
24% less employee turnover in high-turnover organizations
59% less turnover in low-turnover organizations
Whatever industry you’re in, rewarding your employees makes sense from a business perspective. But what should that look like? Get inspired with these five creative employee reward ideas.
Creative Employee Reward Ideas to Boost Company Morale:
1. Offer Top-Performing Employees a Gift
Obviously, people love gifts, so what better way to reward the amazing work of your employees or celebrate work anniversaries than buying them a present?
However, not all presents are likely to yield the desired results, with more than eight in ten employees admitting they have received a corporate gift they didn’t want.
It seems there are some definite no-nos when it comes to buying employee gifts.
For instance, branded company swag –– T-shirts, pens, mouse mats, and the like –– might seem like an obvious gift, but it turns out almost three-quarters of workers prefer to receive gifts that don’t feature their company logo.
What’s more, things like gift cards and coupons are a perennial favorite in the world of employee incentives. It’s easy to see why: they effectively shift the burden of choosing a gift from the leadership team to the individual team member. Yet in reality, they leave employees feeling cold, with three-quarters describing gift cards as less meaningful than “actual” gifts, and nearly nine-tenths admitting they ended up losing the gift card or forgetting it had a balance.
Okay, so gift cards and company swag are out. But that doesn’t mean you need to delete gifts from your list of creative employee reward ideas. Instead, try the following:
Buy them art: If you know the employee and their interior design preferences, buy them an art print to hang up at home.
Give them some budget to redecorate their workspace: According to the University of Exeter's School of Psychology, giving employees control of their workspace layout makes them happier, healthier, and up to 32% more productive.
Choose a gift that fits their routine: Personalization is an important element of effective employee gifting. If they love the gym, upgrade their membership or pay for some classes. Can’t live without coffee? Buy them a membership to a coffee club.
Donate to a charity of their choice: We all have favored charities. Ask them to choose a good cause and make a donation in their name.
2. Applaud Their Performance In Words
When it comes to creative employee reward ideas, you might assume that physical gifts are a far more effective incentive than mere words.
Yet research suggests otherwise. As the previous section demonstrates, gifts can often have the opposite effect, leaving employees feeling like their efforts aren’t really appreciated. On the other hand, meaningful words that speak to their abilities and achievements can have a big impact.
According to a survey of more than 100,000 employees published in the journal Strategic HR Review, verbal praise is the number one way that employees like to be shown appreciation in the workplace, cited by 47% of respondents.
Importantly, “verbal praise” doesn’t have to mean speaking to the employee one-to-one. Per the study, it also includes:
Written praise
Recognition in front of fellow team members
Speech in front of a large group
Rather than a few words around the water cooler or in the canteen, try recognizing exceptional performance via a handwritten note –– something the employee can keep and look back on when they need a little extra motivation. You could even start a company newsletter that is sent to employees every week. This newsletter could include the names of employees that have exceeded expectations. This way you get to congratulate them in a way where everyone hears about it as well!
Or, for maximum impact, consider applauding them in writing on social media. Don’t forget to tag them!
For example, Attorney Brian White Associates recognizes their top-performing employees on social media to make sure they know that they are appreciated.
Social media is a great way to interact with your employees- past, present, and future. Companies are realizing this and it is about time that yours does too.
3. Give Them More Control of Their Work-Life Balance
No matter what industry your business lies within- even if you absolutely love your job and can’t wait to get into the office every morning, it’s still important to switch off when you get home.
So it’s worrying that 60% of Americans have an unhealthy work-life balance.
This doesn't just affect employees; it can damage their organizations too. Research from Prudential discovered that 25% of Americans plan to look for a new job after the pandemic, with work-life balance named as one of their top priorities.
In short, if your employees don’t get enough downtime, there’s a good chance they’ll leave, so it makes sense to incorporate work-life balance in your employee reward ideas.
There are lots of ways to do this.
An obvious solution is through flexible working. If they’re a trusted employee, give them greater control over their working hours. Maybe they’d prefer to start and leave earlier, take a shorter lunch break, or do half-days on Fridays and make up the hours throughout the week. If it makes them feel appreciated, improves their work-life balance, and doesn’t affect the quality of their work, there’s literally no downside.
But it doesn’t stop there. Work-life balance doesn’t necessarily mean spending less time in the office; it also means making the most of your home life (and doing less of the things you don’t enjoy).
To that end, you could add house-cleaning services to your list of employee incentives. Pay for a cleaning service for a month and they don’t have to worry about doing the dishes or hanging up their laundry during their downtime.
Or you could simply give them a parking spot –– or upgrade their existing space –– so they can park closer to the office and cut time from their commute. That means more time to unwind in the morning, so they come in feeling fresher and happier.
4. Enrol Them In a Subscription Box
Subscription boxes –– that is, a type of delivery service that brings exciting new products straight to our door every week, month, or quarter –– have been one of the retail success stories of the past decade.
Their popularity started to wane somewhat, only for the sector to receive a timely shot in the arm from the pandemic. Since 2020, the number of consumers with retail subscriptions has increased by an astonishing 99%, with one in five consumers now having access to at least one subscription, according to research from PYMNTS.
Given that people love subscription boxes, it makes sense to include them in your mix of employee incentives. But how to do it?
Firstly, it’s about getting the right box. From makeup and snacks to bath products and wine, there’s a practically limitless choice in the subscription box market. Ideally, you’d let the reward recipient choose their favorite subscription box (up to a certain monthly value). Alternatively, you can try negotiating discounts with subscription box providers in multiple categories, then offer employees a choice from your short list of “preferred providers”.
Another element to consider here is the duration of your reward. Typically, when you “gift” an employee, your reward is a one-off purchase. With subscription boxes, that might not be the case; you could be paying for months. Get around this challenge by offering a maximum value of the subscription. For instance, you might award them a subscription of up to $100; it’s up to them whether that pays for a full year of cheaper service, or three months of a more expensive one.
You could also offer employees the ability to further their knowledge in their sector. This could mean investing in their education by paying for a course, a certification, or an educational retreat. This really shows employees that you care about their careers and are willing to invest in them.
For example, if your SEO consultant is doing great work, show them you noticed by offering them a paid for SEO certification that could help them grow.
5. Organize a Night Out for Them Their Work Friends
Company cultures are built on the people we work with.
If you employ a bunch of positive, generous, empathetic people with can-do attitudes, chances are your culture will have a distinctly feel-good edge. On the flip side, if your employees tend to be more “glass-half-empty”, it might not matter what employee reward ideas you come up with –– they still won’t feel satisfied and engaged.
So it’s no surprise that our work relationships are one of the biggest factors in determining whether or not we’re happy at work, according to research from the Institute of Leadership Management.
Lean into this by rewarding entire teams rather than individual employees.
Has your sales team landed a big contract? Your account managers secured a huge upsell? Or did your front-line delivery team hit a key deadline or receive amazing feedback from a client? Pay for them to go out for dinner, buy them theater tickets, or put some money behind the bar at the local happy hour.
That way, you’re not just making them feel valued as individuals; you’re bringing the whole team closer together and improving your workplace culture in the process. It’s a double win.
Bringing it All Together
Ultimately, there’s no such thing as the “right way” to do employee incentives.
Rather, the creative employee reward ideas that work best for you will depend on the type of people you employ and the practicalities of your workplace. If you work in a laboratory with strict hygiene controls, it’s probably impractical to let an employee redecorate. And if you’re in a busy city center, a parking space might set you back thousands of dollars.
Your best bet is simply to ask your employees how they’d like to be rewarded. Whether that means showering them with gifts, paying for experiences, or simply offering more meaningful verbal feedback, listen to them and make it happen.
Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
How to Celebrate Employee Appreciation Day Every Day
If you're a team leader, manager, or owner, can you think of the last time that you told your team they were doing a great job or that you appreciate them? If you have to think about the answer for a long time, that's not a great sign.
All too often, employee appreciation is either grossly overlooked or attempted with too little sincerity. When this happens, employees don’t feel truly recognized and respected for their hard work. But it's never too late to change that.
While celebrating Employee Appreciation Day is a good start, it’s actually far more important to show appreciation for your team members in some way every day. By investing time and energy into the self-esteem, confidence, and sense of value that your employees have day to day, everyone benefits from this healthy dynamic of mutual respect and gratitude.
Better employee retention, higher performance, improved productivity, and increased employee engagement within the workplace are all-natural by-products of regularly showing how valued each person is.
While gift cards, ice cream, and other tangible rewards are a great way of showing employees appreciation, below, you’ll find some simple but highly effective employee appreciation ideas that add value to your team members' daily lives and enhance your company culture.
1. Provide a Comfortable Working Environment
Physical comfort is a basic need for any worker. But going a little bit above and beyond can demonstrate your desire to make their day as comfortable and stress-free as possible.
Invest in ergonomic chairs, add some indoor plants, and make sure the office is always looking clean and inviting. Maintain great care of the spaces your employees occupy, as it shows continued effort on the company’s part to make their days as pleasant as possible.
If employees work remotely, ensure that they have the tools they need to get the job done. Working from home is already fraught with additional challenges. Ensuring your employees have a comfortable set-up with the right tools and equipment can reduce stress and improve morale.
2. Regularly Ask for Employee Feedback
Many times, management is clueless about how to really please employees. But there’s a simple solution: asking.
Holding feedback sessions, creating a “suggestions” box, and sending out feedback surveys can help bosses stay in the loop about what kinds of rewards and expressions of gratitude are appreciated most. You can also use one of the SurveyMonkey alternatives, as long as your survey is simple and easy to fill by your employees.
By making sure that employees from every level are provided with the space to speak up about new ideas or issues that concern them, you can hear directly from them how they’d like to be treated and what changes they might like to see in the future.
It also provides an opportunity for managers to pick up on any bullying, harassment, mismanagement or otherwise that may be happening behind the scenes.
3. Celebrate Birthdays and Work Anniversaries
Creating a birthday tradition in the workplace gives employees something extra to look forward to once a year. Plus, it provides everyone with a wonderful excuse to get away from their desks and enjoy a slice of cake!
Keep a birthday calendar in a communal space to help employees get to know each other better and give everyone an annual opportunity to feel celebrated. You can do the same thing with work anniversaries or other life events.
4. Provide Mental Health Days
Most organizations offer sick days and personal days, but few provide days off for mental health. These days are particularly beneficial to those suffering from anxiety, depression, or even high stress. However, they’re also good for when employees feel burned out or in need of a short break to prevent serious mental health issues.
Just like sick days, you can offer mental health days in a limited yearly supply, with the option to extend them if a serious issue arises. Giving your employees time to nurture their mental health shows that you care about them as a person and not just for what they can do for the company.
5. Be Flexible With Paid Time Off
Giving your staff members paid time off is a great way to show appreciation. You can award them additional vacation days that they can use at their leisure or dole out a few hours at a time with late starts, long lunches, and early quitting time. This gives them more time to spend with their family or do something else that they enjoy.
6. Cater Lunch or Provide Snacks
Employers can show appreciation through various food-related gestures that cater to the tastes and preferences of their employees. Here are some ways to incorporate food as a form of appreciation:
Employers can arrange for catered lunches to be brought into the office from popular local restaurants or specialized catering services that offer a variety of cuisines.
Arranging for food trucks to visit the office provides a unique and enjoyable experience.
Set up a well-stocked snack bar with a variety of healthy and indulgent options like fresh fruit, nuts, yogurt, chips, chocolates, and soft drinks.
Providing breakfast treats such as bagels, pastries, or a smoothie bar on certain days of the week can be a delightful way to start the day.
7. Make Celebrating Achievements the Norm
As previously stated, showing employee appreciation isn’t just about one day; it’s about creating a culture of appreciation.
Give positive feedback when your employees accomplish a small task or a big project. This feedback can be in the form of an e-mail or by stopping at their desk. Everyone has different comfort levels, so get to know your employees and what form of communication they are most comfortable with.
Or send out a company-wide email acknowledging your employee's hard work, recent success on a specific project, or anything similar. Other co-workers will most likely respond to the email, adding other congratulations and resulting in an even bigger act of gratitude.
One way you can implement this is by sharing your employee of the month through email. They will love the praise and be happier knowing you want to share their successes with the whole company.
Setting up an employee recognition program is another way to give everyone the opportunity to be recognized, and it helps promote productivity in the workplace.
8. Speak Out Against Discrimination
Having a company culture that refuses to tolerate any form of discrimination and aims to be as inclusive as possible is essential. However, taking measures to frequently discuss what that means will improve the employee experience and everyone’s sense of safety and empathy.
No employee should be made to feel uncomfortable or discriminated against by any person or policy within (or outside of) the working environment.
Show your appreciation for employees belonging to a minority or often discriminated groups. Make it easy for them to bring up concerns and normalize zero-tolerance for bias, bigotry, and discrimination of any kind.
9. Offer Career Advancement
Upskilling is one of the most desirable factors in employment positions. Now, more than ever, employees want to know that there is room for them to grow and expand their careers. Offering career development programs is one great way to give them exactly that.
The rapidly changing world of today means that constant reskilling and retraining exercises are necessary for certain employment roles to stay relevant. Implementing an upskilling program is one of the most useful, valuable, and future-oriented gifts a company can give its employees.
10. Give Career-Based Incentives
One of the most practical ways to show your appreciation for employees is to give them rewards based on facilitating their current job. A bigger working space, a private working space, and mentorship are all highly valued rewards by strategic employees.
Using job-based rewards as incentives for high performance shows that your company is ready and willing to compensate for hard work with realistic opportunities for individual career advancement.
11. Establish an Employee Recognition Program
A great way to show appreciation is to set up an employee recognition program. Appreciation through awards is a reminder of their excellent work. Awards can range in cost depending on the company, but we have a list of ideas for employee appreciation awards to get you started.
Another slightly more involved way is to use gamification to show your appreciation. For instance, you can have each team member claim a task. For each task completed, your team members will receive points associated with the value of their completed tasks.
You can then allow employees to redeem their points using a corporate rewards portal. In the portal, you can offer anything from vacation days, to work-from-home days, or even scholarships for continuing education.
12. Offer Gym Memberships
Employers can demonstrate commitment to their employees' well-being by offering free or discounted gym memberships, or by investing in an on-site company gym. These perks offer a convenient way for them to relieve stress, improve physical health, and boost mental clarity, all of which can enhance productivity and job satisfaction.For companies opting to build an in-house gym, it can encourage a healthy work-life balance, foster greater team bonding as colleagues may work out together, and ultimately, reflect the company's investment in its employees' long-term health and happiness.
13. Get Social
Your company’s social media pages are an excellent place to share some good news. You can use your social media channels to recognize employees on special days, such as their anniversaries or birthdays.
You could also post a photo along with a blurb highlighting an employee’s contribution to your company. You could also list fun and interesting facts about them that their current workers may not know. Or, you could write a glowing LinkedIn recommendation for a star staff member. This kind of recommendation can help them find success in their current role—and in the future.
The Final Word: Always Be Authentic
However your company chooses to celebrate achievements, express its appreciation, and reward employees, the most important thing is that it’s done with authenticity.People can pick up on forced or disingenuous gratitude far more easily than you’d think. That kind of expression is only going to cause a wave of eye-rolling and resentment within the workplace. Neither of which are good for the employees nor the company side they work for.
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About the AuthorThis article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
How To Maximize Employee Retention
Gone are the days where you join a company straight out of school and work there until you retire. Today, people are not afraid to tell their employers what they want or to shop around for a better offer somewhere else. Employee retention is one of the toughest challenges businesses of all sizes and shapes are facing—even in a global economic downturn.
So, what does this mean to business owners?
Is it possible to keep hold of great employees, or do you just accept that low employee retention rates are the normal state of things?
The truth is, you will never stem the flow completely.
However, with the right work environment and strategies in place, you can make your business as attractive as possible to good employees and make them want to stay longer.
6 Strategies To Retain Employees
Ready to find out how to keep your employees from jumping ship? Let’s dive in.
Start With The Right People
A good team at work is critical to keeping people hired for longer. You don’t necessarily need everyone to get along all the time. But you need everyone to show motivation and feel that everyone else is pulling their weight. Employees start to feel disillusioned if they believe they are doing more work than others on the team.
When hiring new team members, think about their work ethic and personality. You want to try to ensure they will fit in with the rest of the company, and the general company culture. You can do this by getting more established team members to come and sit in on the interviews once candidates get to the final stage of hiring.
Treat Them Like Individuals
Stats show that people want to be heard and want to know that their needs are being taken into account. In order to do this, you need to have regular conversations with your team in group settings as well as in one-on-one settings.
This should take place in both the conventional work environment and in more casual settings, like having lunch or a cup of coffee outside of the office. This will make your employees feel like you are recognizing what they bring to the company.
When meeting with employees, remember to ask about how they are doing, both personally and professionally. They may have some great ideas about how other employees could improve the business or their own workflow. They may also be going through something tough or struggling with work-life balance, which could impact their performance and need some attention from you.
Set Clear Expectations
Another critical part of building a strong, positive relationship with good employees is to make sure that everyone knows where they stand.
A business relationship is all about meeting expectations. This means that both you and your employees need to understand exactly what they’re expected to achieve.
It’s also important to have this conversation up front in the hiring process, and then continue having it as new work or projects come up.
If you want to promote employee engagement and make them feel empowered and confident in their work, you need to be available for questions. They should never reach the end of a project or piece of work only to hear that it isn’t what they should’ve been doing, or that it wasn’t done correctly.
Offer Healthy Incentives
The more important an employee is to your business, the more you should be giving them in terms of incentives to stay with the company. This includes perks, such as flexitime or financial rewards in the form of a bonus.
When people get rewarded for hard work, loyalty or talent, they feel more inclined to stay where they’re recognized. Additionally, if other team members see their colleagues getting recognized and rewarded, it could very well motivate them to work harder to get the same bonuses and perks.
Recognition and reward don’t always have to cost business owners days off or bonuses. You can also acknowledge a job well done simply through a company-wide email to tell everyone that a project is completed and these are the staff members who made it happen. However, the more tangible the acknowledgment, the better employees will feel, especially in the long term.
Invest In Employee Development
People are often looking for opportunities to grow.
If they feel like they have stagnated in a company or have gone as far as they can in their careers in one place, they will start to look elsewhere for work.
As a business, you can find ways to offer professional development. This can be through paying for courses or training a number of employees to use software that streamlines operations. You can even give people room to switch gears within your company if it’s large enough.
Programs like this are great because they build up the skillsets within your business, as well as show your employees that you care about their personal development. Your faith in them is likely to be rewarded with their loyalty and continued motivation to excel at work.
If you aren’t sure where to start with an employee development program, ask your staff members what they want. In your meetings and catch-ups, talk to them about where they see themselves in the future and what jobs they want to be doing. This should give you plenty of information about how to structure a development program or what kind of courses you could invest in.
Be A Leader
The position of business owner or boss is something that so many strive for or yearn for. However, they don’t realize that you need to actually be a leader if you want your employees to be happy and stay with the company long term.
An effective leader inspires people to follow them and inspires loyalty in any number of employees. A regular boss is easy to leave when another job opportunity comes up.
Satisfied Employees Equal Retention Success
Creating a happy, healthy, and productive workplace is the key to employee retention. Focusing on maximizing employee experience and satisfaction goes a long way towards training workers who are an integral part of your business. Start implementing these employee retention strategies now and you should see the difference.
Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
Recruitment Tips For Startups: Hire From Day One
Hiring processes have evolved tremendously across all industries due to a global competition to attract the best talent. If you're new to the market, these startup recruiting tips are likely to be helpful.
Usually, behind creating a startup, there is a unique value proposition; but to develop that unique proposition, you need to create a unique team.
When a company is created, the founding team has a double challenge: making the startup profitable (in the shortest time possible) and building a team that helps fulfill the dream.
Probably among the priorities of the first stage will be:
Meeting minimum revenue to stay afloat.
Keep customers happy as they come in.
Develop a model that aims for profitability in a given period of time or accelerate the process in the next investment round.
What will help you achieve these goals?
Invest in building a great team
This advice will most likely seem premature if you are a startup. Besides, if almost 80% of hiring teams capture the best talent, how do you stand out from the already positioned competition in the job market?
We'll show you how to attract the candidates you need to boost your startup and fulfill your dream in this insight.
Hire from day one
If you are just launching into the entrepreneurial world, you and your founding team likely have an endless list of tasks. Maybe your proposal is still being validated in the market, you barely have clients, and you're focused on staying afloat. This is the scenario of almost all startups when they go to market.
So how do you go about "hiring from day one"?
It's just as hard as finding a quality research papers help service. Most startups don't think about hiring until they need to hire: they need to scale quickly after raising a round of investment, the product has been well received, and more people are needed for the sales team, or support, or customer success... or all of them.
This type of situation forces you to accelerate processes and hire quickly, running the risk of spending a lot of resources and time identifying candidates. However, you can prepare the ground and start recruiting long before you have the conditions to hire. Here's how to do it!
Build your employer brand from the start
Just because you're not in a position to offer new jobs from day one doesn't mean you can't start your hiring process.
When you have already set out to attract the right candidates, it will be easier to know each other. For his part, the candidate will already know your organization, its values, and how it works. From the company's point of view, you will have one or more profiles that you will have followed up, and it will be easier for you to attract them.
There are many employer branding strategies that you can develop from the beginning with very economical actions. You can share the backstage of your company on social networks, the workspaces, testimonials from the team, useful content to build a community of followers (among whom your future hires may be found), etc.
Work with talent pools
"Hire all the time" is an idea that you should embrace and be able to convey to your team. It doesn't matter if you will be in a position to sign a contract in a few months.
If you can identify early the people you want to add to your team and work strategically to attract that talent, you will be more likely to fill the available positions with the people you want. That's what working with a talent pipeline is all about.
How can you do it?
Participate and encourage your team to join online discussions and events in your industry. This will help them prepare, make the brand visible, and perhaps make the first contact with future hires.
Also, if you want to go a step further, work from the beginning on your Career Site and use it as a priority channel to make your employer brand visible. Work on your web positioning and, even if you don't have vacancies available yet, share the offers you intend to publish soon. This way, future candidates will have an idea of the opportunities they can expect.
Create a hiring plan
Having a hiring plan can be very useful in setting goals and setting the course for your startup's growth. It helps to answer and map out actions based on these three basic questions:
What needs to happen in the business to make a specific hire?
How much time will you need to make that hire once the vacancy is posted?
When should you start promoting the available vacancy?
It is a common mistake for companies to start promoting their job openings just when they need to hire. As I said initially, this leads them to rush the process, and they do not always consider whether the new hire meets the candidate profile they need.
Think of job offers as you think of your product
It is likely that, even though you have generated a talent base from your employer branding strategies and other organic actions, you are considering running advertising campaigns to drive recruitment.
This is where many companies "get carried away" and replicate traditional models for new hires: Contact with recruitment agencies, campaigns on every job board out there, endless requirements to fill the position, and so on. However, candidates now play a much more active role in the labor market, bringing new strategies to the table to attract the right candidates.
Establish a starting point. If sales strategies are evolving and you are constantly considering new ways to make your product attractive, why not do the same when finding the ideal talent for your company?
Define your "ideal candidate" profiles
Should you have only one ideal candidate profile? In this insight, we offer you some ideas to don't limit yourself when assessing various candidate profiles. It might surprise you how valuable it is to bet on the diversity of talent in companies.
However, just as it happens when you define your ideal client, you must segment and identify the profiles that fit your needs. To define your Candidate Persons and boost an effective recruitment campaign, you must take into account:
What technical skills are indispensable?
What soft skills will you take into account to consider them?
Should they have previous experience in similar companies?
What aspects do they value in an organization, and how can you satisfy them?
What characteristics do they need to meet to be "compatible" with the company's culture?
What social media platforms do they consume?
What communication channels are most effective for contacting them?
The answers to questions of this type will allow you to better focus your strategy and opt for techniques closer to inbound recruiting. Among the main advantages, two stand out:
You will be able to identify the most effective channels to promote your offers.
You will create ads better adapted to your target.
Don't turn the job description into a list of requirements
It's simple. If you are clear about who you are trying to hire, the description of your job offer and all the messages you use to promote it should be attractive to those profiles. Don't focus on the requirements. Instead, highlight what you offer your future employees and how they will benefit from joining your team.
View onboarding as an investment
You've probably read a lot about the importance of providing a good candidate experience. Most companies are very clear about this and strive to ensure it. However, contrary to what many think, the candidate journey does not end with the hire.
The onboarding process is just as important to the success of new hires. Just as the recruitment and selection process focuses on attracting and hiring the best candidates, their retention depends largely on onboarding.
The reason is very simple. Think about all the time and resources you have invested in hiring that person. Make sure you give them all the tools to do their job and facilitate their onboarding process. The new employee must have more than one reason to want to stay in your organization.
Again, you must think the same way you do with your customers. Just as we trace a funnel to generate value around our product, new hires must go through a whole cycle until they can make significant contributions to your company. Taking care of the onboarding process will help you accelerate that process.
Bring an onboarding plan and get results in the short term!
About Author: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
Three Keys to Drive Engagement & Retention for Your Hybrid Workforce
Employee engagement is the concept of understanding the nature of an employee’s relationship with their employer/organization both quantitatively and qualitatively. In other words, the level at which an employee cares about his or her workplace itself, as well as its mission. While engagement has always been a challenge, it’s become even more so as the pandemic has changed the work environment to one in which employees work from home, some or all of the time. This new hybrid workforce has brought employee engagement and retention to the forefront of many HR departments and the goal is to continue seeing both, even when employees aren’t on-site every day. So what’s the solution? Engagement drivers are where it’s at. These differ from organization to organization, but some key engagement drivers will get you started. Of course, you can customize them for your workforce and use them to keep employees engaged so they stick around. Within each is some additional ideas that you can use as you create your engagement and retention plan.
What are Engagement Drivers?
Before we delve into the specific engagement drivers you can use, let’s learn a little bit more about what they are. They are your top options for making an impact on how employees feel about the organization and their role within it. Your goal is to choose the drivers that will result in the highest engagement. For example, your drivers may have to do with how managers respond to feedback and how well they listen to their employees. In this case, your engagement driver is manager communication. The best way to identify your engagement drivers is using surveys. The resulting data will help you see what matters to employees and how addressing those drivers will improve engagement and help retain employees. Let’s talk about the top three keys for employee engagement and retention.
Hire from day one
If you are just launching into the entrepreneurial world, you and your founding team likely have an endless list of tasks. Maybe your proposal is still being validated in the market, you barely have clients, and you're focused on staying afloat. This is the scenario of almost all startups when they go to market.
1. Future Outlook
People like to feel like they are part of something. That means that if they are excited about the future of the organization and where it’s going, your chances of employee engagement and retention are much higher. So how do you make that happen?
Communication
You won’t be able to get your employees on board for the future if you don’t clue them in. It falls on those in leadership roles to communicate the organization’s goals and visions.
Shared Goals
While leadership may create the goals, the entire team plays a part in reaching them. For that reason, it’s vital to hold regular meetings to update everyone about the steps needed to reach the goal.
Progress Updates
It’s not enough to share the goals and vision. It’s also important to keep employees apprised of progress toward the result. Sharing in successes is also necessary for engagement and employee retention.
Employees and Their Role
While everyone works as a team, each employee should understand his or her specific role and duties. This can be achieved by scheduling one on one time to discuss it.
2. Feeling Valued
Sure, getting paid what you’re worth is important, but a big factor in employee retention is feeling valued. Employees want to feel appreciated and like they are an asset to the organization. Here are some ways to do this effectively.
Employee Surveys
This is a simple way to gather feedback from your employees. The trick is to follow up appropriately based on the data you gather. Consider the data you received from employees. Keep in mind that employees may be more forthcoming if the surveys are anonymous.
Recognition
No employee wants to work their hardest to get zero recognition in return. Employees are more engaged and likely to stay when they are recognized for their contributions. Praise goes a long way toward making employees feel valued.
Flexibility and Trust
Micromanaging rarely goes well. Employees are hired due to experience and education so there needs to be some trust that they can perform their job without every action being scrutinized. In addition to autonomy, you can build engagement with flexible schedules and increased responsibility.
3. Career Growth and Development
Employees are more likely to stay with the organization when they feel like the company is invested in their careers. Providing opportunities to advance and grow their skills is a vital part of engagement and retention. Keep reading to find out how to do that.
Tuition Assistance
It’s expensive to get a higher education. However, many employees desire the chance to do so because it allows them to grow their careers. Investing in your employees by offering tuition assistance benefits them and the company. Your employees learn new and valuable skills that translate into the workplace as you strive toward the organization’s overall goals.
Promotion Opportunities
The top performers in your company should be given the chance to advance to a higher ranked position, otherwise known as a promotion. If there isn’t a position currently open, offer employees challenges in their current role so they continue to feel engaged in the job and won’t be seeking a new opportunity elsewhere.
Training and Mentoring
Offering support as employees gain skills and hone the ones they already have is a simple and valuable way to keep them engaged at work. These can be group opportunities or one on one chances to meet with someone who can provide training and encouragement as your employees grow in their careers within your company.
The Takeaway
The new hybrid workplace environment indeed makes engagement a challenge. When employees are working at home, they don’t have the same opportunity to connect with the organization and its other employees, which can be detrimental to feeling valued and engaged. While it may be a struggle, identifying engagement drivers can help you create a plan that keeps your employees engaged and provides them with the consistency and challenge that makes them want to stick around. Remember, making your employees part of the plan is the most important step. They want to feel like they matter and that their input matters. Begin with that and work the rest around it.
About Author: Paula O Gorman is the marketing manager at Promotive, a marketing agency in Ireland. Paula uses some of these techniques to help with employee engagement and retention at Promotive.
Everything HR Needs to Know About Cybersecurity Today
Cybersecurity has until recently not been a top priority for HR professionals. However, things have changed, and that is no longer the case today. This is even more important now because of the challenges brought by the pandemic in early 2020. Collaboration between cybersecurity teams and other departments such as HR is now vital.
Many businesses moved their operations online when the pandemic struck. Some went ahead to adopt a work from home formula for their employees, which posed serious cybersecurity challenges. This led to an increase in virtually all forms of cyberattacks on different organizations.
HR professionals need to understand their role in organizational cyber safety. This includes knowing how employees can cause security challenges to a company and the possible solutions. In this article, we will explore every detail that HR professionals need to know about cybersecurity.
Let’s get started.
How the Remote Workplace Affects Cybersecurity
Remote working wasn’t as widespread as it is until the pandemic disrupted our daily lives. Today, millions of people worldwide are working from home. However, remote working has multiplied the number of cybersecurity threats that businesses have to deal with today.
The remote workplace exposes companies to phishing schemes, insecure Wi-Fi, unencrypted file sharing, computer malware, weak passwords, among other risks. The good news is that you can prevent most of these security challenges, such as phishing and weak passwords, by conducting regular cybersecurity training.
You should, for instance, train employees on the identification of phishing emails. Make it continuous training with newsletters and periodic phishing tests. Train employees to avoid password sharing and repetitive password usage, and also how to set strong passwords.
Unencrypted file-sharing can pose serious security threats. Cybercriminals can intercept unsecured data-on-transit, leading to theft, ransomware attacks, etc. Thankfully, there are several ways to secure data before you send it over a network.
One of the best ways to do this is using Blazing SEO residential proxies when working on business networks. Proxies are critical assets for companies that handle sensitive data. Using them helps increase data security and efficiency, especially when the data users are working from remote locations.
The Common Cybersecurity Challenges
Remote working has given cybercriminals more opportunities to exploit. Companies that allow employees to work from home are increasingly getting targeted by these criminals. HR professionals have had to develop strategies to help them overcome the security challenges of remote working.
But then, the first step to overcoming cybersecurity challenges is understanding them. Let’s look at some of these challenges below;
Expanded Attack SurfaceRemote working means more devices accessing a network as everyone uses a personal device. It is not like in an office setup where a few devices can serve many people simultaneously. The challenge is that most personal devices may not be optimized for security, increasing security holes on the network.
Password Threats
Well, we have already mentioned how weak passwords can expose a business’s network. HR is responsible for ensuring that employees do their part in safe password use. Ensuring they avoid things like password reuse can help ensure cyber criminals do not crack your business systems.
Increased Uncertainty
There is a climate of fear that develops when you have a massive space to protect. The more devices used to access a network, the higher the doubt and urgency. HR is responsible for guiding employees on keeping safe as a successful attack won’t only affect the company network but also their household.
Employee Mistakes
Feeling tired or losing motivation when working from home can lead to employee mistakes. Research shows that 35% of employees experience this problem. The chances of such employees making costly errors are high. HR departments should set flexible schedules to allow remote workers to rest and reset.
Choosing Cybersecurity Solutions
As mentioned earlier, HR professionals have several ways to solve cybersecurity issues. This can be through following certain practices or infusing technology in their strategies. With a wide range of solutions available, it can be daunting for HR professionals to choose the best solutions.
The cloud is an excellent example of solutions that companies are using to boost cybersecurity. Data protection in the current online environment can be tricky if you do not adopt cloud-first security strategies for your company. HR should choose cloud vendors well to be sure of their cloud safety.
Another possible way to solve cybersecurity issues as an HR professional is using automation. Various technological changes are happening every day, and the use of automation technologies is one of them. Automation using AI-based systems can help you analyze massive security data.
This makes it easy for you to design your cybersecurity strategy to meet your current security needs. Besides, automation makes it easy to detect threats and reduces false alarm rates. Implementing these technologies as an HR department can help you realize security on a larger scale.
There are service providers who avail automation and cloud solutions to businesses. As mentioned earlier, the cloud vendor you choose matters, and the same applies to automation service providers. In the end, choosing cybersecurity solutions well can be of massive benefit to HR and the entire company.
How HR can Improve Cybersecurity in the Future
HR shouldn’t provide cybersecurity solutions that only focus on the present. There is a need to have future-proof solutions that a company can rely on in the future. The easiest way for HR to do this is to invest as many resources as they can on their employees to help prevent future attacks.
Besides, the HR departments need to keep the ever-changing threat landscape in mind. Cybersecurity solutions that work today may not work in the future. Cybercriminals are getting smarter with their attacking techniques, making continuous monitoring and updating security solutions essential.
Another way to ensure that cybersecurity solutions work into the future is by taking responsibility. Many companies delegate their security to professionals and other firms. The problem comes when they feel too comfortable and leave everything to third parties who don’t fully understand their threat landscape.
Taking cybersecurity as a responsibility and embedding it into your company culture can be beneficial. It is vital to follow up on any third parties you contract to handle your security. The HR and IT departments should also work hand-in-hand to ensure employees do not become a weak link in their security efforts.
For instance, HR should deactivate the accounts of employees immediately after they leave the company. It is common to hear of suspicious activity happening in inactive accounts. The problem is that HR and IT departments take too long to detect such activities if they do not cooperate.
Conclusion
Fostering a cybersecurity culture in an organization is everyone’s role today. Employers, i.e., the HR department, are mainly responsible for employee recruitment and training. Security awareness is one of the essential things they need to train employees on before onboarding them.
Besides, HR teams must understand how remote working affects cybersecurity. We already mentioned how remote working could expose business networks. This can be through employees accessing the networks from unsecured devices, networks, etc. when working remotely.
The HR department needs to identify these challenges and find solutions for them. For instance, they should teach employees remote working best practices, put policies in place, etc. HR also needs to find future-proof cybersecurity solutions that will ensure continued security for their companies.
Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
What To Expect From Recruitment Trends In 2022
Recruitment trends are necessary for the recruiter to hire the candidates. The expectations of the candidates and companies are changing with time. Hiring a star candidate is a challenge, and the recruiter has to act more than other recruiters.
The recruiters who are still following the trends from the previous year might not work in 2022. The recruiters using the traditional methods for hiring need to have strategies. They have to leverage upcoming recruitment trends to get the most benefit. The recruitment trends for 2022 look promising.
This article will focus on the recruitment trends in 2022. Let us begin.
#1. Rise of Generation-Z workforce
Gen-Z employees are tech-savvy. They look for companies that provide them with the latest technology while working. Gen-Z is a multitasker and can handle plenty of tasks at once. So, hiring a Gen-Z requires a lot of effort.
So, recruiting Gen-Z means you need to adapt to a group. The same old applications won’t interest them anymore. It will not help the recruiters onboard them for their company.
You need to adopt the latest technology during the hiring process with chatbots. 2022 is the right time to update your company’s website and make it more Gen-Z friendly. The recruitment process has to be seamless, and they must be able to apply via their smartphones.
#2. Use of artificial intelligence more in the recruitment process
AI has been around for a long time. The recruiters are incorporating it into their recruitment process. The AI technology helps to streamline or automate the part of the recruiting flow. It consists of high-volume tasks and more. It allows the recruiters with blind screening for reduced bias and visibility.
Here are some more benefits of AI for the recruitment process:
Save recruiters time by automating tasks.
Hiring volume for a company increases every year. The recruitment team has to be ready to fulfill the requirements. The recruiters need to be efficient with their process. Screening resumes is an outdated practice, and the recruiters need something better. The screening takes plenty of time for a single hire. So, it is better to move on to AI to automate the tasks. Using AI won’t disrupt the workflow of the hiring process seamlessly.
It improved the quality of hires.
Quality of hire is the top KPI for the recruiters. AI promises the quality of hire. It offers to standardize the matching between the candidate’s experience, skills. The improvement in job matching leads to happier and more productive employees. They will be less likely to turnover.
#3. Predictive analytics will be key
The use of analytics is in the upward direction in the coming years. So the recruiters don’t want to miss out on this trend and are looking to apply it in their talent acquisition strategy as quickly as possible.
Predictive analytics uses the data to find the relevant patterns. It uses the model to predict the future trend. It helps to understand the past trends to make the right decision for the future. Here are the reasons that make predictive analytics ideal trends to use:
Attract relevant candidates via sourcing
For most recruiters, sourcing the candidates takes plenty of time. It is the reason they need a strategy that works wonders. A recruiter leverages predictive analytics by including it in the talent acquisition strategy. Thus, predictive analytics increases the effectiveness of the hiring process.
Predictive analytics helps in talent pipelining.
Predictive analytics optimize the talent pipeline by leveraging the talent data. It leads to better resource allocation. A recruiter knows where to invest in the recruitment campaigns for a specific skill.
#4. Candidate driven market
The significant change in the 2022 recruitment trend is a lot of jobs available in the market. It is the reason the candidates hold power more than ever before. Candidates have more options than they had in a long time and can negotiate salaries. The recruiters need to work harder to hire a suitable candidate than ever before. The same recruitment trends might not work to please the star candidates. So, in 2022 we can see better recruitment strategies, data-driven recruitment marketing.
#5. Virtual recruitment
Virtual recruitment has grown in immense popularity since last year. But the trend will continue to grow in the upcoming years. It is the primary recruitment method for many companies. Virtual recruitment offers plenty of benefits to the employer as:
Seamless hiring of the candidates.
Increase in candidates' reach.
Proper engagement with Gen-Z.
Time-saving.
The recruiter will schedule virtual interviews that are in the candidate’s comfort. 2022 will see a boom in the virtual recruitment process. It helps to reach a wider audience pool that is not limited to geographical areas. It increases the possibilities of the recruiter to get a large number of candidates for hire. Virtual recruitment is a win-win for both employees and employers. The employees are ready for remote work. Thus virtual recruitment is the workable option to hire them.
#6. Reaching passive candidates
Last year, we saw many companies competing for the same candidate. It means limited opportunities for the companies. Because of this, companies are willing to come in contact with passive candidates.
Passive candidates make better hiring. These candidates are not looking for a job change but can consider if the opportunity is right. They might get enticed by the employer brand. It is an upcoming trend, and reaching passive candidates helps to expand the talent pool.
#7. Remote recruitment process
Remote hiring is a trend that is growing and will continue to stay. The recruiters know this quite well and will plan their recruitment process accordingly. The candidates favor remote working and are more inclined toward jobs that have ‘remote work’ in them.
It will change the recruitment process making the recruiters rely on video and audio interviews to finalize the candidate. Virtual recruitment is a time-saving and effective way of hiring candidates. In 2022, the recruiter has to find ways to embrace the recruitment process. This way, the recruiters will reach a wider candidate pool not limited to a specific area. It benefits the workforce diversity and streamlines the hiring process of the team. When compared to in-person interviews, virtual interviews cut down this significantly.
#8. Recruiters hiring for soft skills
There is a lot of skill gaps present in the recruitment industry. And having soft skills in a candidate is beneficial. Upcoming jobs are focused on soft skills like communication and problem-solving skills. So, the recruiters are more inclined to hire soft skills to reduce the gap present in the recruitment industry. Here are some of the benefits to hire for soft skills:
It broadens and diversifies the hiring pipeline.
Increase workplace productivity and retention.
Ease of upskilling.
It improves customer satisfaction and experience.
Some tips for soft skills focused recruitment process:
You have to focus on your job descriptions. They must focus on soft skills such as communication and teamwork. Refocusing on the job requirements with soft skills helps find the best candidates.
Use pre-hire assessment tools that allow you to pinpoint the soft skills. By leveraging the tools, recruiters can hire up to 10 times more accurately. It saves time, money and provides a better candidate experience.
Try to source talent from places known for cultivating soft skills. Explore the places where you can find the relevant candidates having soft skills.
Author Bio: Ginni Agarwal is a Talent Acquisition Expert at Upright Human Capital with extensive experience in Tech and Non-tech hiring. The company aims to provide a healthy workplace for the right set of talent to the company without any fear of losing our human capital. She loves blogging, writing articles about Talent Acquisition, and the recruitment industry. She has been associated with the Talent Industry for a while. She enjoys sharing her experience with others.
10 Best Ways to Help Employees Deal with Stress
The worst mistake a company or a manager can ever make is making their employees not as productive as they could be! Research has indicated that over 55% of professionals in India feel stressed at work (source: LinkedIn survey). Work-life balance (34%), discontent with the incomes (32%), and unsatisfactory career growth (25%) are the significant factors that gang up on and overwhelm employees. To say nothing of adjusting to remote working environments made it hard for many to swim with the tide during the pandemic.
There is a mile-long chasm between employees' wants and what they are getting to cope with stress in their working environments. (Unfortunately, this happens pretty often!) Employees are falling into the abyss of stress and productivity.
Stress: Something more than the loss of productivity at work
A small amount of stress is good in the workplace, but sometimes it gets overwhelming. On-job stress can affect a person's capabilities and productivity and lead to higher incidences of making blunders at work.
Before you get into the solutions of helping employees deal with stress, here are some of the benefits of low-stress work environments:
Lower company costs: Excessive and constant stress can lead to burnout. Which, then, has the potential to break your business down. A study by Mental Health America indicates that workplace mental health problems result in as much as USD 500 billion of lost productivity annually.
Reduced absenteeism: It is a duck soup to understand that a healthier mind and body leads to lesser leaves and better engagement of the employees with the company. When employees know how to train their minds, they tend to be more punctual at their workplace due to increased focus.
Higher retention rate: Employees tend to stick to a company longer when they know their employers care for their mental health and well-being. Thus, leading to a lower attrition rate.
Improved performance: Too much stress is a monster! It reduces creativity, drains energy, and makes it hard to focus on the task at hand.
Connected company culture: The number of overstressed employees is directly proportional to the degree of happiness at the workplace. The employees feel more connected to the companies when they feel that their mental and physical health is being taken care of at their workplace.
Employers need to examine the environment they are creating for them and the source of the stress for their employees. As a leader, here is how you can help your employees bring down the tensity at work.
10 tips for reducing stress at work
Use these tips for enhancing your work environment to reduce stress:
What Is A Recruitment Strategy, And Why Do You Need It?
The fundamental definition of a recruitment strategy is the plan that explains what role you are hiring for, how much time you have, what tools you are going to use, and the requirements for successful candidates.
When it comes to recruitment strategies, the "one size fits all" approach doesn't work. Depending on your company's goal, the time frame, and other factors, the right recruitment strategy may differ from case to case. Therefore, instead of having a specific path in mind that you follow in every situation, you may want to develop creative ideas that can streamline your recruitment process. However, all these ideas need to follow your company's overall goal, be implementable, and be easy to communicate.
If carefully planned and implemented, recruiting strategies will help you position yourself in the job market as a reliable employer, helping you attract the people you are looking for.
1. Employee engagement is your secret weapon
ResearchandMarkets shows that the global employee engagement and feedback software market is poised to reach USD 1,908.3 million by 2027 at a CAGR of 11.8% from 2021-2027. The market research indicates the growing trend of employee engagement across a broad spectrum of industries.
Quizzes and hackathons are the blockbusters for employee engagement activities, but Business Simulation games are the new disruption in the market. They are now extensively used by corporations to educate, train and engage their employees. To put it simply, business simulation games give insights into the management process by providing real-world scenarios. Combining learning with gamified virtual programs and engagements eventually upskill the employees and improve their focus on everyday tasks.
Inquizitive, an organization-wide quiz contest by Reliance and Ideathon, a collection of various challenging and exciting activities by Mahindra First Choice Wheels, are the perfect examples of how to engage employees.
2. Give your listening skills a workout
Wrap your head around a simple fundamental principle - Don't hear, listen. Perhaps, the most basic and essential way to connect to your employee is to listen. Invite employees for open discussions or one-to-one meetings; talk about their challenges and concerns. This way, you narrow down their source of stress and take the necessary steps to cope with the stress.
Great leaders like Satya Nadella (CEO, Microsoft) and Jens Hofma (CEO, Pizza Hut) believe in respectful, believable, and honest communication with their employees.
3. Setting goals: Begin with the end in mind
Realistic and attainable goals help employees unlock a positive mindset, release creative ideas, and energy for goal attainment. Showing them how to plan, strategize and set similar pragmatic goals can ensure that the employees understand what's expected of them. It will help them save time, improve their performance, and strengthen the business.
SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based) framework is one such way to help them unleash their best potential and relieve stress at work.
4. Let's accept - surroundings influence productivity
Studies show that changing the work environment and aesthetics has a positive effect on the employees. Get your creative juices flowing and play around with the setting of the office. Make the office a little more alive by getting plants, creating opportunities for movement, building a break room, and designing a layout that meets your employers' needs.
For instance, Google offices make sure that their employees can relax and refuel during breaks. Fun fact: Do you know that Google has kitchens everywhere? Yes, because nobody is allowed to be more than 100 meters away from food!
5. Frustration happens; it's okay to conduct venting sessions!
"I just cannot take this job anymore."
Everyone has been there, done that! Yes, sooner or later, employees can become saturated and disengaged and end up venting out emotions to their colleagues. It can spread negativity and bring down the morale of the entire team. But when done right, it can work wonders. Here's how.
Organize workplace venting sessions where employees can post their concerns anonymously. However, on the other hand, motivate them to come up with solutions. This will meet their need to be seen and heard and help them focus on their work better.
6. Your office should not feel like a cell; give flexibility
After experiencing a remote work environment for more than a year, everyone knows that workplace flexibility now dominates the future of work. Instead of babysitting the employees, allow them to select their schedules and mode of working. This freedom will help them create a work-life balance and will make them feel less stressed.
Netflix outshines big names like Google and Apple when it comes to flexibility and convenience. Known for supporting its employees in their professional and personal lives, Netflix benefits programs are centered around creating flexibility for employees.
7. Implement mindfulness in the workplace
Charting a purposeful path to the next normal should be a pressing priority for every firm irrespective of its size, which can be achieved by practicing mindfulness. Intuit, an American business specializing in financial software, is an ideal example of implementing mindfulness at the workplace.
Their Well Minds program promotes mindfulness and resilience by providing tools to help calm the minds of their employees so that they can perform better. Further, their one-to-one counseling support helps with stress management.
8. Recognized employees are equivalent to happy employees
As a leader, it is vital to understand the principles of employee recognition and motivate others in the team to practice it in the workplace. Be on the lookout for opportunities to praise your employees. It will not only help them increase their productivity but also lead to higher retention of quality employees.
Try your hands on verbal recognition and written compliments, organize group lunches, or give them gift cards/bonuses!
9. Healthy snacking (nom, nom)
Healthy snacking has long been a cornerstone of reducing stress. Educate your employees about healthy snacking and make sure they have access to such stress-buster food at work.
Here are some suggestions for foods to snack on that can ease off the work stress:
Berries
Citrus fruits
Dark chocolates
Nuts
Yogurt
10. Practice vulnerable leadership
Showing your vulnerable side at work is not a weakness. Don't shut people out and let your authenticity stay intact because it is human nature to trust authentic people more. Remember, when the employees don't trust the manager, the company suffers. Admit your mistakes, take criticism, have an open-door policy, and connect with your team. Be a modern leader!
These are some ways you can try to eliminate stress from the employees and make your company a great place to work. Remember, your people are your product. Take time out to focus on the well-being of your employees, and they will reciprocate a thousand times!
Author Bio:
Dare2Compete,
Dare2Compete lets recruiters gamify learning, engagements, and hiring while connecting them with students, professionals, educators, and other learners.
Why Does Employee Retention Matter?
Are high sales rates and ROI the true measure of a thriving business?
While a continuous streak of customer acquisition and high-selling products is impressive, these all prove meaningless without a team of competent employees to carry out the business’s most essential operations.
When employees start leaving one after the other, it is usually not a good sign for any business. The failure to acknowledge and work through workplace issues affecting employee motivation and performance could potentially lead to a business's downfall.
In contrast, working hand-in-hand with staff to improve work performance and employee satisfaction is the first step to implementing an effective employee retention program.
What is employee retention?
Employee retention is the capacity of any company or business to keep its staff on payroll. Businesses with high employee retention rates imply empathetic management and well-accommodated staff. After all, why would people want to leave a company that adheres to their needs and demands?
There are internal and external factors that affect how well a business can encourage its workforce to stay.
During the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies worldwide experienced a dramatic decrease in their in-house workforce. If not due to income loss and forced closure, some employees had to resign to protect themselves from the deadly virus. Others chose to find a more convenient money-making alternative, either in the form of a home-based job opportunity or a new business venture.
COVID-19’s economic impact is an example of external circumstances that test employee retention. Although the pandemic is out of the employer’s control, there are still specific countermeasures that they can work on to adjust to the sudden shift in employee expectations. These countermeasures involve adjustments in the workflow, chain of command, and task distribution. It would not be reasonable to use the pandemic as an excuse for not being able to revise company policies for the benefit of the staff.
On the other hand, some of the most common internal factors that influence employee retention include salary rates, employee benefits, stress management in the office, and team dynamics. Overworked and underpaid staff are likely to resign and find job opportunities with higher offers. If the workplace is demotivating and tolerates toxic behavior within the management and staff, it discourages people from staying. At the same time, the lack of opportunities to advance their career are huge red flags, especially for tenured employees.
Why is it a relevant factor in a business’s long-term development?
Retaining employees, whether old or new, is a sign of empathy and concern for the welfare of the staff. Any business would find it almost impossible to advertise their products, engage potential customers, and sell without a team to back them up.
Who will carry out their marketing strategies? Who will engage interested buyers and address customer concerns? Who will represent the company and leverage its success with the business’s core objectives?
That said, employee retention is crucial in the following:
Reducing operational costs — Replacing tenured staff with new hires is costly for any business. The constant need to hire and train new personnel skews the time and resources meant for gaining stability and securing ROI for the business. Instead of moving forward, companies are held back by the repetitive cycle of guiding newly hired staff and orienting them about workplace culture.
Whereas, when trainees are molded into experts in their field, the company is also equipped with a well-oiled combination of skills and broadened knowledge base that enable companies to exceed customer expectations. More satisfied customers also mean more earnings for the business.
Boosting employee productivity — Employees are driven by management that proactively exhibits a consistent need to grow with their team. When staff observes that their colleagues are satisfied and encouraged to stay with the company for a prolonged time frame, it speaks volumes. It shows that the company values them as key players in sustaining and growing the business exponentially.
Reinforcing brand credibility — Customers are more empowered thanks to the interconnectivity of social media platforms. It is easy to expose brands abusing the rights and welfare of their employees. In contrast, businesses that encourage resilience, teamwork, and competence among their staff tend to gain the trust of their target customers. The drive to challenge employees to exceed their capacities in a nurturing and positive manner reflects favorably on a company’s new and existing clientele.
Enhancing customer experience — Happy employees bring happy customers. You can tell that employees are prioritized through their work performance and how they communicate with clients. They radiate positive energy and exhibit a professional and dependable work ethic. Moreover, their stellar customer service is consistent and easily recognized by both new and long-time customers.
Augmenting employee training/onboarding process — The better a company is at retaining their employees, the more they are inclined towards continuously improving how they meet employee expectations and demands. They are backed by constructive feedback backed by first-hand experiences of their long-time staff. Consequently, the management can draft employee welfare strategies that adhere to their needs and reflect the business;’s unique setup.
It is unfortunate that even in a modernized society, people still hear personal accounts of abusive bosses and large-scale corporations notoriously exploiting their employees for their personal gain.
If you happen to be a business owner who stumbled upon this blog, do not be one of these heartless bosses who disregards the grievances of their staff. Instead, be a compassionate leader who takes the time to address employee concerns, discuss them with their team, and devise solutions to resolve these dilemmas.
Employee retention is not limited to keeping a team of professionals who will help them generate sales and acquire more customers consistently. It also focuses on promoting a harmonious work environment. People become more motivated when they have a positive working relationship with their colleagues and feel that they are appreciated in the company.
Next to customers and loyal patrons, well-accommodated employees are powerful advocates of what a business aims to represent and achieve.
Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!
11 Ways to Engage Employees
When done right, employee engagement results in each member of a company giving their best. They’re better at collaborating with the rest of their team—both on a personal level and when completing their job-related tasks—and are committed to company-wide success.
If engagement at your company is lacking, there are a lot of ways an uninspired workforce can be felt across a company and create a dramatic ripple effect. The key to turning this around is a commitment to improving your company culture from the inside out.
So let’s get familiar with what employee engagement is and why you shouldn’t overlook it. Plus, we’ll offer our employee engagement ideas, which have been tested at organizations of all sizes and in a variety of industries.
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What Is Employee Engagement?
Employee engagement refers to the level of enthusiasm and commitment an employee feels towards their job and the organization. It encompasses how invested employees are in their roles and their willingness to go above and beyond to contribute to the company's success.
Engagement is, at its core, about company culture. The workplace should be a place where employees are generally happy, as they spend a lot of their time there.
The Best Employee Engagement Ideas
1. Compensate Competitively
People like to feel acknowledged for their hard work. And although salary is important, it’s not all they want. Be sure you’re staying on top in areas such as healthcare offerings, retirement plans, and generous PTO.
2. Establish a Rewards System
Whether it’s marketing, productivity, or engagement, there are a few things that wouldn’t benefit from the implementation of a gamified system.
Start by setting clear, measurable goals that align with company objectives, and then create engaging challenges or milestones around these goals. This system could involve earning points for hitting targets, completing tasks, or demonstrating company values, which can then be exchanged for various rewards such as extra vacation days, gift cards, or public recognition.
For example, employees might earn "innovation points" for contributing unique ideas, which are displayed on a digital leaderboard and lead to quarterly prizes for top performers, fostering a fun and competitive atmosphere that motivates everyone to engage more deeply with their work.
You can make this process even easier by implementing employee recognition software.
3. Offer Training and Career Advancement
Employees don’t want to stay in one position forever; they want to grow. That doesn’t mean that you need to prepare them to leave the company for greener pastures—instead, aim to make your company the greenest pasture out there.
Make sure every employee knows that promotions are not only possible but expected, given good work. Thus, you will find that training will be much appreciated. You can send them to conferences and workshops, assign them recommended readings, or provide them with company-branded how-to demo videos if they are working remotely.
4. Encourage Autonomy, Not Micromanagement
No one likes to feel that they are being micromanaged. Yes, employees should be held accountable, but they want to know that you hired them because you trust in their abilities to do their job. Give them direction, set deadlines, and then set them free to get the job done effectively.
You can of course, as a leader, guide them along the way if you notice that something they’re doing could be done more efficiently, but make sure you are not checking up on them at all hours of the day. Use your check-ins sparingly and they’ll be more likely to see them as help than feel a hint of dread.
5. Offer Remote Work Options
It may seem counterintuitive to let employees work from outside the office to boost their engagement, but negative office environments can cause work anxiety and thus hinder employee engagement.
In addition to relieving the stress of your employees, offering remote working arrangements will also help you stay competitive. This could look like allowing employees to work from home certain days of the week, setting up satellite offices, or even offering fully remote positions where team members can work from anywhere with internet access.
6. Encourage Personal Projects
One of the top things employees look for in a workplace is one that fosters a healthy work-life balance. Encourage them to have a life outside of work.
Do they want to hone a skill that is not directly related to their day job? Great, feel free to help them out if you know of resources you can suggest. Cheer them on. Show up for them however you can.
Managers and their subordinates should be able to talk about personal endeavors. If coworkers can share more and help each other out when it comes to their hobbies, they will be happier all around and learn to build each other up.
7. Facilitate Communication and Encouragement
Teams that like and appreciate each other work together best. Push for your employees to get to know each other and treat one another as respected individuals.
Plus, with the help of good engagement software, they can have a platform to give shout-outs and praise to their fellow staff. It shows each member of the workforce that the other members of the team truly believe in them and are taking note of their accomplishments.
8. Make Onboarding a Breeze for All
No one likes coming into a new job and filling out a ton of paperwork. Nor do you need it to be the first thing a new employee thinks about upon walking through the door on their first day—you want them to be excited about the orientation process and focused on the job they were hired to do.
The right software will enable smooth transitions for new hires rather than present a bit of a turnoff, as it may have been in the past. Getting the correct forms filled out and catching them up to speed does not have to be a dreaded task when everything is available virtually in one easily accessible place.
Today, it is more than possible to find an onboarding system that is a great experience for already busy HR staff and anxious new employees alike. With the latest technology, you can be sure they’ll feel welcomed rather than overwhelmed.
9. Welcome Employee Feedback
You want your organization to have integrity and transparency. This is not to say that you should toss out your corporate hierarchy framework. While most decisions should continue to come from the top, your employees need to feel that their voice is valued.
Invite feedback from all team members—yes, even from interns. Everyone should understand they deserve to have their opinions heard. They are more likely to be engaged and enthusiastically interact with their team if they feel they have a voice—and that you’re listening.
You do not have to accept every suggestion, but if an employee brings a concern to your attention or an idea of how to improve any area of your business, hear them out. Thank them for their contribution and see to it that it is at least considered.
10. Hold Contests and Have Themed Office Days
Who said work can’t be fun? Keep things interesting by, when appropriate, holding little games or themed days at the office.
Try a game night (or lunch). Whether it’s trivia, Pictionary, or even sports, having employees engage in friendly contests is always a good way to get the creative juices flowing and build relationships within the company.
Relay race obstacle courses, escape rooms, board games, card games, VR, you name it. As long as it’s something fun, cooperative, and takes away the stress of work then it’s a suitable candidate for game night.
Themed days can be aligned with major holidays such as a cook-off for Thanksgiving, costumes for Halloween, or a Secret Santa gift exchange for Christmas. And don’t forget about birthdays, as they’re easy to celebrate but just as easy to miss if you’re not keeping track.
11. Take Employees Out to Lunch
Going out to lunch with all the employees in your office provides a great opportunity to get to know everyone better. Plus, it gives them the opportunity to open up to you about any problems they may be facing.
Most veteran HR managers would agree that they’ve had better luck catching problems early when they already have a rapport with the employees at their company. It also helps you gather invaluable feedback about how the employees would want the company to run, what changes would make their jobs easier, and even any operational inefficiencies.
In addition to these small outings, you could also organize company-wide lunches every quarter so that everyone has the chance to build a stronger relationship both with their coworkers and the company as a whole. This reminds them that they’re part of something big and worthwhile.
12. Volunteer as a Company
Many enterprises make giving back to the community a priority. Don’t just give money, though, as things can easily be made more personal than that. One poll found that a staggering 68% of employees would take a job with a company that values volunteer work over one that does not make time for it.
We’re also seeing that corporate social responsibility (CSR) ranks highest among millennials. Cone Communications reports that up to two-thirds of young professionals said they wouldn’t even consider working for a company that does not prioritize this. Not to mention, it’s great for team building.
Encourage your staff to volunteer together instead of simply giving them time off to do their own individual community service. And don’t be afraid to change it up—if you don’t have a set organization to which you prefer to donate, you can even have employees vote on which charity or nonprofit they’d like to help each year.
13. Have Snacks in the Office
Employees are more likely to engage with their work if they have access to extra benefits, particularly yummy snacks. You don’t have to spend a fortune on professional catering or bog your employees down with junk food.
There are quite a few nutritious snacks that you can offer such as avocados, dark chocolate, or red grapes. These will keep your employees both happy and healthy. It even serves as an extra incentive to join when headhunting talent. And there are plenty of food ordering solutions available worldwide to make things even easier.
14. Review Regularly to Gauge Happiness
Employees who regularly get to use their strengths, skills, and abilities were found to be as much as six times more likely to be engaged at work—and 8% more productive, according to research from Gallup.
Hold regular reviews with the aim of not only gauging their performance but also checking in on their overall well-being. If they’re not showing the growth their managers were expecting, there could be an underlying reason for that.
Make sure these assessments are a two-way street—don’t just talk at them, rather, give them a chance to explain their side. Ask them what their goals are, what you or their supervisors could be doing better as leaders, and what would improve their outlook on the job.
Get them to understand that you take change seriously and that if something can be identified that will help them do better, you will do your best to make that a reality for them. In the end, this should end up proving to be a solution, both for them and for the company as a whole.
15. Meet In and Outside of the Office
With all the tools we have in this digital era, it doesn’t matter if your team is distributed across the globe or sitting across a section of cubicles from one another, there is a way for them not only to get along but genuinely like each other.
Make sure to hold meetings regularly so that everyone is on the same page. Employees should see this as an opportunity to collaborate and ask for help. When people come together to share ideas, fewer potentially great ideas will escape the organization. Some of the greatest innovations started from joint efforts.
If people are remote, have them call or video into a conference. Even if the team is all situated at a physical office location, don’t skip this step. Emails cannot always replace the nuances and camaraderie of face-to-face interaction.
And it’s not just about work meetings. Organize ways for your people to meet up outside of work as well. Hold private company holiday parties at rented venues, invite staff to join together at a bar if everyone is local—or, if you have the funds and some of the team is remote, try gathering everyone together for annual, or biannual, retreats.
You want your team to feel like a cohesive group. And those who have fun together often stay together, creating memories that can then be taken back to work with them and shared among work friends.
Why Is Employee Engagement Important?
Hiring Top Talent
When a candidate is first researching to see whether they might want to apply, they’ll often look at websites that show current and former employees’ ratings of employers. When the majority of employees are pleased with their experience at the office, positive reviews show prospective hires what a great place your company is.
Boosting Productivity
Employees tend to be more productive when their overall experience is positive. And more productive team members are, of course, great for your bottom line.
The stock prices of businesses that have made it to Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work for" have risen 14%, per a study from the Jackson Organization as reported by Forbes, while those not on the list are reporting a mere 6% increase.
When it comes to salespeople, for instance, happier professionals are reported to be able to raise sales by an astounding 37%, on average, according to the Harvard Business Review.
Improving Client and Customer Relations
Happier employees generally provide a better experience to clients and customers. They genuinely believe in what they are selling and want to go the extra mile for customers’ success.
Lowering Turnover
Don't lose your best employees because they aren’t happy enough while at work. Keeping employee engagement high boosts talent retention.
Voluntary employee turnover has many costs. Plus, filling an empty role has a negative effect on employee morale and takes time and money. When employees see others exiting the company, they might think something is wrong and consider other opportunities.
Employee Engagement Tools
If any of these employee engagement ideas got the gears turning and sparked excitement for you while picturing all the new, interesting things you can have your team do together, get in touch!
We can walk you through LIKE.TG’s engagement software, such as the ever-popular Workmates, to show you how tools that are easy, fun, cost-cutting, and time-saving can get you where you want to be.
A tight-knit, more communicative, and all-around more productive work environment is possible with our expert advice and acclaimed technology. To see happiness levels at your company rise quicker than you ever thought possible, reach out and we’ll help you reap the benefits of a more engaged workforce.
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