Covid has definitely made an impact on our personal lives and the way we work - there’s a true struggle of balancing out our professional and personal side. Employee happiness has become an ever-important factor, with burnout and disengagement becoming a real threat to the modern workplace. As offices begin to reopen, and as we slowly return to our pre-pandemic routine, managers are getting a bit antsy over setting up their own workplace of tomorrow. For the employees who worked from home during the pandemic, this was a true test of resilience - and they’re becoming increasingly interested in more flexible work arrangements. It seems that a more hybrid workplace is the way to go. According to a survey from Microsoft, up to 73% of employees would like more flexible remote work options. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all type of solution, there are definitely benefits to this work model. After all, industries across the globe kept going, meaning the workforce adapted and overcame its obstacles successfully. One thing is certain - happy employees are productive employees. And as trends shift in terms of employer branding and responsibility for a better employee experience, the ball is in the employer court. Here are some ideas on how you can increase employee happiness while running your business on the new normal standard. Let Them Set Up Their Own Rules The new work model obviously works, there’s no denying it. Granted, in the light of returning to the “old normal”, managers will be torn between rent prices for office space, and their team’s wish for a more flexible work model. The road they should take is establishing some ground rules. Establishing feasible rules will only work if everyone gets to pitch in. Listen to your employees and figure out a solution that works best for all sides - employee empowerment begins by listening to what employees have to say. The start can be fairly simple: establishing office and remote days. These can be predefined days of the week, or setting up the number of days your team is required to show up for work. A number of employers had work-from-home schemes set up prior to the pandemic, so it makes sense to beef up on those - especially if employees stand to benefit from that. Another way would be the company offering workations. While you’re establishing ground rules on your work models, try to hear out various departments - especially if you’re running a middle or large operation. Chances are that work from home is not the same for developers, accounting and HR; different departments have different clearance protocols, and handling sensitive data on a home network might prove to be an issue. See which challenges lie in front of different departments, and how you can resolve them together. Let Them Manage Their Own Time There are challenges on managers’ plates as well. As immediate work locations changed overnight for a big number of employees, managers were left struggling to both maintain and assess work effectiveness and work hours. Luckily, new tech came running to the rescue, and the boat was kept afloat. A number of tools, most of them in use even before the pandemic, quickly became staples of the modern workplace. As communication and management became easier, effectiveness and time tracking also became easy to handle and less of a challenge. This has proven to be a twofold benefit: it saves precious management time otherwise spent literally policing your team by making work insights easily available, you’re not breathing behind your team’s neck, which can often deteriorate team engagement and happiness. Modern times require modern rules, and an approach that moves along with the very dynamic times we live in. Empowerment is the buzzword in managerial circles, and it begins with a simple concept - trust. The modern manager must not only exude respect, but must showcase huge trust in their team being responsible for their actions. The operational solution can also be as simple as the concept: one way to do it is to try employee scheduling tools and empower the teams to track and design their own work schedule. It makes perfect sense that this is counterintuitive to some, but you’re actually showing trust by giving your team the responsibility for the time they clock in. Not only that, you’re putting them in the spotlight in front of their peers, and peer pressure can do wonders for increased productivity in an adult, professional setting. Provide A New Office Experience The whole story about employee empowerment doesn’t have to stop with time either. A pre-pandemic study showed open-plan offices were actually making teams less productive and collaborative. It’s strange how being physically close can actually make us less productive, but it makes sense on a number of levels. This is another cue for the modern manager to take. With the freedom to work from their homes - or any other location of their own choice - team members might be reluctant to come back to wide-open offices. The reasons can be productivity, concentration, privacy, even small and quirky workplace habits or better work life balance. And as shown during the pandemic, the office doesn’t have to be obligatory for the full time. You can work with your HR team to determine employee preferences for the coming time, and to see how your office design can improve both work metrics and employee attendance (if you’re after improving that in the first place). Designing novel workstations might be the way to go. The modern office can mostly do away with cubicles and personalized spaces for every employee, focusing instead on providing a place to work for workers when they do come to the office. The equipment and station design will vary greatly from one department to another, but in the era of powerful laptops (tablets even), this should not be an issue. Remember, the focus is setting up a working environment that enables people to come to the office when their presence is needed, and not go overboard with unnecessary gadgets. Meetings Flexibility Is A Must Whichever way your company - or your team - decides to go, meetings are inevitable. It’s also inevitable for them to be held in person in some instances, so this is another consideration when planning ahead. Be careful when setting up requirements; not all meetings require physical presence. A hybrid model, with meetings held online, is very doable these days - comms applications such as Slack, Zoom, Google Meet, or even the old and faithful Skype, all allow you to take part, voice opinions, and see your team members in real-time. When the time comes for actual meetings, or a situation requires you and your team to sit together and come up with solutions, make sure you can respect all the pandemic regulations. Also, if you’ll require your team to come to the office, try to come up with less formal parts on the agenda, and make a small event out of having all your people together in one place! An actual meeting is not only an opportunity for the employees to work together, but to be together after a long period of time! Impress The Newcomers Finally, growth will require you to expand your team at some point. As the trend of workplace flexibility is going into full swing, workers will naturally gravitate towards businesses that have already transitioned successfully. Taking into account all of the above, and making an action plan around those, will not only streamline your current workflows, but also act as a magnet for future hires! Remember that, when we’re talking about employer branding, we’re not talking only about employee experience (and retention). CX - Candidate Experience - is another big thing these days, and a happy work experience begins right at the get-go. This is something to keep in mind when designing your hiring protocols and employee onboarding - there are no reasons not to do it virtually. Parting thoughts As trends migrate fully to new work models, it pays off to stay ahead of the pack. The modern workplace is designed to try and keep the employees happy and motivated, since we all saw it was them who shouldered the burden right through the pandemic. However, the perks of the modern workplace are not mere benefits for your workforce, but actual catalysts for improving productivity and employee engagement as well. Leading your team (quite literally) into the future through these workplace improvements will prove to be a major employee retention factor! Author Bio: Derek spearheads key initiatives at Deputy, a global workforce management platform for employee scheduling, timesheets and communication. With a focus on workforce, Derek helps business owners and workforce leaders simplify employment law compliance, keep labor cost in line and build award-winning workplaces. Derek has over 16 years’ experience in delivering data-driven sales and marketing strategies to SaaS companies like MarketSource and Griswold Home Care.

The modern workplace has changed more in the last few years than any other time in history. For most people, work looks very different when compared to two or three years ago. In this guide, we’re diving into the workplace trends you need to know about in 2022. Why is it important to know the future of work trends? Quite simply, you will probably want to know about the upcoming trends so you can stay on top of them. Modern companies need to give employees a modern workplace or risk losing top talent. In progressive industries, this becomes even more essential. You don’t have to run a Silicon Valley company to provide a great, exciting place to work. Predictions of modern workplace trends Let’s dive into the predictions for modern workplace trends and how things might change in 2022 and beyond. Hybrid or remote working A lot of people got used to working from home in recent years. The pandemic has led to workplaces being more flexible out of necessity, but many employees now expect this as the norm. Remote working doesn’t have to mean you are a less effective team, but to keep everyone well-connected, we think more companies are going to move towards a hybrid approach so people spend some time in the workplace, and some time at home. More personal and professional development This makes a lot of sense. In fact, it is bizarre that a lot of workplaces didn’t really embrace this beforehand. It seems that the world of work is waking up to the benefits of development, not just professionally, but personally. For example, in years gone by people might not have understood the benefits in giving your employees the chance to take courses together. Now, we can see that team-building and other opportunities for development are crucial. The benefits are many. You can build confidence, grow employee soft skills and incentivize your employees to continue to improve. Workplace look trend predictions The workplace look is likely to become a little more casual. This is the modern way, and trends can even be accounted for in this way. Showing tattoos at work is one of the ways we might see a change. People who have visited the best tattoo shops in the US in order to get a beautiful sleeve or other ink want to show this off to other people, even at work. Tattoos have become much more mainstream in general. We are used to seeing these when we socialize, and the excuses some bosses have to get rid of them in the workplace probably won’t stack up. Tattoos are not dirty, or unprofessional, or associated with gang culture (in the majority of instances). Innate liking for flexible work schedules More and more companies are offering flexible schedules for workers. Workplaces that don’t could be seen as outdated. Flexible working schedules don’t have to make your team less effective, and employees appreciate the opportunity to run errands or even just take breaks when they want, and work on their own terms. Many companies scared to take this approach before the pandemic has seen that their business can function with remote and flexible work. Need for centralized communication This way of working has also led to a need for more centralized communication, with a lot of companies moving to project management systems for assigning tasks, communicating with one another, and tracking the progress of your team. Without a simple centralized method of communicating, it is easy for employees to feel lost, or potentially to even become less productive. The emphasis on work-life balance More and more employers are starting to understand that their employees value their personal time. Work-life balance is essential, and if companies want to keep their employees (and keep them happy) they should take steps to improve this balance for their staff. There are some companies that are even changing to ‘trust’ systems where they don’t necessarily track employees’ time. As long as tasks are being completed then the employee can manage their own time. Investing in employee wellbeing We’ve mentioned this a little in terms of personal development. Mental health check-ins and even aids to keep staff happy at work will become much more common. The modern approach to substances including CBD could change, too. A lot of people take CBD to help with stress and anxiety, and workplaces might reduce any regulations about these kinds of substances. Many companies realize that unhappy employees are usually unproductive employees. By prioritizing their mental health and wellbeing, businesses can even reap the benefits in terms of productivity. What’s more, keeping your employees happy is the right thing to do, and leads to a far better working environment. 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!

With everything that 2022 has to offer, we believe now is a great time to rethink the HR and recruiting strategy in your SaaS business. We will discuss how AI and machine learning will change the HR industry, whether internal mobility is a thing, and how to get the most out of SEO. We have outlined four trends that will make 2022 a year to thrive. 1. Taking Advantage of SEO Building an SEO strategy for your SaaS niche will bring you success in the long run. As the success of your SEO efforts highly depends on what strategies you use, it is better to work with an experienced SaaS SEO agency, especially if you are a newbie in the world of SEO. While some companies rely on performance marketing, they still depend on paid advertising. However, by staying on top of the latest trends and best practices, you can ensure that your SaaS marketing campaigns are always successful.On the other hand, thorough SEO ensures the traffic keeps coming even if the advertisement stops. Considering that SaaS is mostly a digital product that is not restricted to a certain location, it broadens the search and is great to expand with the help of SEO. Furthermore, digital product development services play a critical role in this scenario. These services allow for constant innovation, upgradation, and maintenance of the SaaS product, ensuring it remains competitive and relevant in the market. With professional assistance from such services, SaaS companies can effectively enhance their digital presence, thereby increasing the effectiveness of their SEO strategies. Moreover, when it comes to content, there's the option to work with a content marketing agency for SaaS which will help achieve more professionalism and success in the long term. We prepared a list of the most helpful tactics you can adopt in your SaaS business — make them a part of your marketing plans in 2022 and see the difference in your bottom line within a year. Optimize for Google’s Job Search Many candidates simply put what they are looking for in Google when searching for a job. Google's Job Search is what they see first, which means you can take advantage of it and make sure candidates see your job offer first. Post jobs both on the company website and job board — this way, your company’s website posting will be prioritized. You can also use Google's structured data guidelines. If you follow these rules, your job listings will appear correctly. Target competitor keywords One of the most effective ways to attract relevant leads to your website is to target competitors’ keywords. You can do that with the AdWords competitor targeting tool that allows you to bid on your competitor’s target terms. Use keywords related to the job search or career pages and get more chances to interact with your target audience. Going forward, you can even analyze paid campaigns of your competitors with a competitive research tool from SE Ranking. It shows their paid strategy and lets you find other brands based on similar keywords, get traffic forecasts, and more. Enhance your career page Once you have the content in place, it is time to take care of the SEO: Make sure your page is indexable to drive more traffic to it. You may start by ensuring that it is easy for the Googlebot to crawl your website. Crawling means following hyperlinks to discover new content. Check SERP (Google) snippets. You can optimize for SERP features by making sure you have relevant content that answers what, when, why, and how questions. Ensure there are no broken links on your page so that people who run across you on the search get what they need. Have a mobile-friendly website. As Statista shows, over 54% of all traffic came from mobile in 2021. Businesses must pay more attention to device adaptability. Your website should be mobile-friendly so that potential clients can easily scroll through the pages, find the information they need, schedule a call, or easily make some other call to action. 2. Building a trustful company reputation When we are talking about the company’s reputation, we cover terms such as employee value proposition, employer branding, and company culture. Company culture is what your teams share: goals, vision, attitudes. It includes everything that characterizes an organization. On the other hand, the employee value proposition (EVP) is the promise the company gives to potential employees: benefits, work conditions, and more. You can get inspired with the SE Ranking — as an SEO agency, it adopts solid working strategies and uses them to attract relevant candidates. You can see everything you need to understand what the company wants to convey with a clearly stated mission and values. The page gains the reader’s trust before presenting open vacancies, leaving space for an action step and further interaction. Employer branding shows the values, mission, purpose, and culture to the world. Think about Google. If I were to ask you how it would be to work there, what would first come to your mind? Most likely, your opinion is based on different stories you have heard, posts you have read, and everything that caught your attention on the internet. That is what employer branding is. In this way, EVP answers the question “Why?” while employer branding defines “What” and “How.” Your branding, social appearance, and career page give candidates an understanding of whether your culture is the right fit on a subconscious level. The candidate can get to know your company through its values and social attitude and get interested in working with you specifically. Let’s look at an example with a restaurant chain that managed to expand during COVID-19 times — Chipotle. Right at the top of the company’s page, you can find a clearly stated mission focusing on people. Their values are embedded into the description: Chipotle supports diversity, well-being, and employee benefits. This is how they define their EVP, which drives their work. With clearly stated values, mission, and social involvement, you have higher chances to attract more relevant candidates to your website and inspire them to apply. Adding social proof, testimonials and awards will show you as a trustworthy organization: use this option to connect with potential candidates from the very start. Specialists will be excited to work with you when you have a well-built strategy like this in place. Moreover, it will help you attract solid customers and retain your existing ones, lowering the turnover rate and strengthening relationships in the company. 3. Adopting Data-Driven HR Machine learning is here to stay, and HR is moving to the next generation of automation with it. IBM believes that data-driven decision, powered by AI, is one of the key pillars of the new HR generation. Such a concept allows HRs to make evidence-based decisions and reach a level of efficiency that would not be possible otherwise. Advanced analytics and automation tools have become great sources to drive efficiency, predict and prevent further challenges, and stay agile in the ever-changing business world. Currently, only 10% of companies have adopted AI-based technologies for HR, which allows you to start the new year with a big advantage. Most HR specialists spend countless hours manually processing and analyzing results — instead, they can focus on expanding business value. Using machine learning in their job is a great chance for recruiters to shift priorities, spend less time performing manual tasks, and spend more time developing relationships with potential candidates. The average number of applicants for a position rose by 39% in 6 years, Gartner Recruiting Efficiency Survey states. Recruiters need even more time reviewing CVs, which slows down the hiring process, not to mention the cost per hire keeps increasing. You can benefit from AI technologies thanks to the tools already developed. We are sharing some of them below. Fetcher’s solution helps companies reach hiring goals by offering tools that ensure diversity, measure team metrics, and make candidates’ profiles easy to read. Humanly application has one of the highest rates from candidates. It facilitates candidates’ screening and selection process, finding relevant and strong candidates, and reducing average time-to-hire. Arya focuses on candidate sourcing, letting you add multi-channel sourcing, automated candidates search, and analyze previous sourcing processes. Pymetrics platform has a modern approach based on AI and ethical design principles that work in two directions: talent acquisition and talent management. Let’s sum up the main advantages of adopting AI and machine learning for your SaaS business: A combination of human and AI effort leads to better decisions Enhance the hiring process by leveraging AI, stepping aside from manual candidates screening and application processing Enhance the experience of candidates and employees, improving the reputation of the business Focus on what matters the most, developing business values in your SaaS niche 4. Retention and internal mobility You might have struggled with implementing internal mobility during the pandemic as priorities were different then. However, this year everything seems to return to its usual pace. While finding external candidates remains a priority, retaining existing ones should also become a focus. Internal mobility has a lot to do with digital transformation, especially true for the SaaS niche. Since the pandemic, most businesses have gone online, significantly expanding the hiring process. Now, when geographical location is not an obstacle anymore, candidates have much more space to look for better opportunities. Internal mobility makes it possible for you to retain talented specialists, even if they decide to shift their careers. Moreover, specialists love how easy it is to get knowledge from the company — the more you can offer, the greater chances talented candidates will stay with you. Yet, you should understand that such a strategy requires lots of effort, both for employees and specialists who will need time to onboard an internal candidate. Before you dive into internal mobility, make sure you have enough resources. Ideally, a combination of external and internal candidates’ searches will bring the most effective results. Summary Whether your business is just beginning or has been a part of the game for a while, it is high time to look at your strategy. Some of the changes may not be visible at first (such as SEO), yet they will ultimately bring amazing results. Adopting AI in your work and investing in your people will allow your company to expand even in the most unpredictable times. Author Bio: This article is written by a marketing team member at SE Ranking. SE Ranking is an all-in-one SEO solution that helps business owners and agencies fast-track every search engine marketing task that includes keyword suggestions, check rankings, search competitors, and other helpful features.

A remote team involves individuals who collaborate with the same project to achieve specific objectives within a defined period. As each team member shares various skills, the team leader expects everyone to deliver refined work by reporting progress. Therefore, communication is crucial in maintaining a remote team. To effectively share information within the organization, ensuring data privacy must be your main priority. Underestimating the power of unprotected information poses data breach consequences such as lawsuits, governmental audits, lost reputation, and bankruptcy. To help you implement stable data management effectively, you can utilize online tools that allow you to assign and distribute tasks to your team. To track productivity even in a work-at-home setup, using tools such as Trello and other similar apps that help promote team spirit is a wise choice. These productivity apps are innovating the work processes to ensure efficient fulfillment of tasks even without much supervision. You can even export your trello data to excel by Coupler.io to blend information from different systems in one place. Since managing remote teams is challenging, you can take online courses to sustain your guidelines. For example, you can understand how to build an online presence, use software, or train your employees using the tutorials. Thus, this article is for you if you plan to revise your organizational remote team guidelines. 1. Assess Existing Communication Guidelines Evaluating the progress of your remote team members is an excellent way to start your organizational guideline revision. This strategy plays an essential role in analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the previous and present remote team management. Therefore, you must track the existing communication guidelines to sustain organizational productivity while the team remotely works effectively. Here are some questions to ask your organizational leaders upon planning to revise your remote team management: Do you have a defined scale that can determine whether your recent virtual team management is successful or not? Do you have enough tools to monitor the online team members' productivity effectively? Can the productivity tools accurately determine the strengths and weaknesses of your team? How can the organization adjust to the growing team requirements? Do you have enough employee feedback about the existing team management guidelines? Can the organization implement regular physical meetups? Assessing your existing management guidelines will help your organizational leaders identify which strategies you can readily implement. In addition, the leaders will understand how to properly align the corporate objectives to the capacity of the remote team members. Indeed, revising new team management guidelines involves regular evaluation. 2. Understand The Obstacles Of Remote Management Remote access is an increasing requirement for every organization. This situation allows mobile staff to have the privilege to access business processes, office systems, and customer data from different locations. While remote access includes hundreds of benefits for your business, this organizational requirement poses shared risks. Underestimating the need to manage various management threats may be vulnerable to your business data. Since remote working depends on sharing organizational data outside the workplace, you have to find suitable technological devices to implement proper data protection. Therefore, consider investing in data restriction tools as you revise your remote team management guideline. 3. Illustrate And Appoint Responsibilities While hiring a remote team reduces expenses, managing virtual team members are challenging. Since employee distance varies, communication is a crucial factor. Therefore, you must appoint separate tasks to sustain effective communication and real productivity between your workplace staff and remote members. If you don't have first-hand experience managing remote teams, you have to gather enough knowledge initially. After understanding how virtual teams work, create a training program for your employees. This technique includes welcoming and orienting your remote staff by designing a presentation that provides individual roles. Next, find the right collaboration tools to communicate with each team member. These tools include chat applications, project management tools, video call software, and screen sharing applications. Pick which communication tools work best with your in-house and remote staff. Before conducting your first virtual meeting, set a regular conference with your team members. If an appointment for the entire organization is required, you must consider this scenario. Note that a daily meeting is a great way to gather updates from each team. In addition, remember that duration of these daily meetings shouldn't take more than 10 minutes. However, if you have further concerns, you can extend so. After setting a regular conference schedule, appoint a team lead. This strategy helps in easy information transfer within different departments. Moreover, having a team lead lessens the time you'll spend meeting the entire team. Thus, appointing team leaders increases overall productivity. 4. Build Detailed Standards For Remote Work Productivity While working from home decreases workplace costs, this situation exposes each remote team member to various distractions. These obstacles limit the attention and focus of the individuals who must stay on finishing tasks. Therefore, if your team members can't overcome work from home (WFH) challenges, these risks may harm their productivity. If you want to improve your remote team's productivity, you should provide them with the right tools to help them connect and produce high-quality work outputs. These technological devices include project management tracking apps, messaging apps, and video conferencing apps. Entrepreneurs and virtual staff can all stay on track wherever they work by equipping remote teams with new specialized tools. Take note that maintaining the accuracy of these work productivity tools requires assistance. Therefore, you must outsource professionally trained staff to ensure that you're utilizing these tools at their highest capabilities. 5. Don't Underestimate The Risks Of Overworking While monitoring the constant progress of your remote team, being sensitive to the risks of overworking is equally essential. As a business owner, you should always remind your team leaders not to assign too much workload to each staff. Shortened deadlines may build up unnecessary pressure on your employees, which may hinder them from submitting quality work outputs. To become more sensitive with your remote team, stay open to discussions. Prepare to adjust to your employees' physical needs to make things easier. Here are some work guidelines to help you implement healthy remote work productivity: Set limits on the duration of daily work without breaks: Communicate the importance of proactively blocking periods on work calendars. To make this technique happen, advise your employees to hold themselves accountable. Prevent work-life- boundaries fogging: Help your remote team understand the difference between work and play. Show the importance of the people-first approach. Remind remote employees to take regular workouts: Tell your virtual staff to incorporate regular exercises into their daily schedule. Activities don't need to be as extreme as the tutorials you watch on television. You can schedule weekly company virtual yoga to make exercising a collaborative effort. 6. Collect Feedback From Your Employees Gathering regular feedback from your employees is vital in monitoring if the remote team management guidelines work correctly. Feedback helps the organization determine weaknesses that require further adjustments. Moreover, this technique provides enough details on whether your management plan is working at all. Here are two ways to collect feedback from your employees: One-to-one meeting: This allows your employees to disclose project details, giving you weekly project performance reviews. Since loneliness is a common complaint by WFH employees, you need to immediately understand how to bridge the gap. Regular two-way feedbacks make communication personal, and the employees will feel more connected with the organizational leaders. Anonymous polls: Although one-to-one meeting helps the team leaders receive enough information, sensitive details need anonymous feedback. Since the rise of technology provides advantages in maintaining remote teams, you can utilize additional tools that lessen the fear of retribution. With that, gather anonymous employee data that gives one-to-one approaches in receiving a more holistic sense of how your employees feel. 7. Deliver Emotional Support Since you already understand how isolation can negatively affect the productivity of your employees, you must find ways to provide emotional support. As an entrepreneur, you shouldn't just focus on the welfare of your potential customers. Instead, you must invest in the dynamic agility of your internal employees. If you want to manage your remote teams effectively, you must train the emotional intelligence of your team leaders. A great team leader should possess qualities such as empowering team members, creating a friendly environment and showing productivity. Moreover, having emotionally intelligent team leaders foster highly-efficient team cultures. Since a leader's emotional distinction significantly affects organizational success, the team leaders must understand how to empower their team members. So, here are five ways a great corporate leader can encourage remote team members: Actively listen to your colleagues as they speak. Promote virtual empathy. Utilize company values as a guide in making organizational decisions. Show vulnerability. Create a resilience routine. The pressure lies within the emotional intelligence of remote team leaders; therefore, you must always recognize efforts. This technique empowers all your online teams, which increases organizational trust, empathy, and overall productivity. Indeed, training your team leaders is one of the best ways to manage your remote teams effectively. 8.Adjust Effectively Managing a telecommuting team is a difficult task. Although some organizational roles can exercise flexibility overnight, other departments can stop micromanaging your virtual workforce. For example, if your team members have set work hours within a week, allow individual restructuring. This method will give them enough free time to feel like they don't constantly work. Thus, those rest periods increase the energy of your remote team members, which adds to the organizational productivity. Key Takeaway To effectively manage your remote teams, you must assess your previous managerial guidelines and plan. As you move along with revising your remote team management, utilize technological tools to monitor workers' progress. However, don't underestimate the risks of giving too much workload because this situation may cause more challenges to your remote team. 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!

There are numerous ways to assess job candidates and determine if they have the skills and abilities required for the job, but not all of them are effective. The best skills tests can determine how well an individual will handle the job by emulating the roles they'll be performing every day. While you might think you’re ready to take on any HR hiring assessment, the truth is that there are many different types of testing that companies use to vet job applicants. These tests come in many different varieties and can test a wide range of skills. Let's take a quick look at the most common assessments HR departments use to screen and hire the best candidate. 1. Organizational Skills Assessment Organizational skills are fundamental in today's fast-paced, results-oriented work environments. They help determine whether a job applicant can get things done without being asked, or by staying organized enough that there is no need to ask. Hiring managers usually test organizational skills in various ways. You might be asked to submit a document you've previously worked on that shows evidence of your organizational skills (such as an academic paper). An organizational skills assessment will also challenge job applicants on their ability to keep track of several different items in a short period. This is often done with paperwork, office supplies, or other similar objects. The goal is to see how quickly candidates can locate these items and return them in an organized fashion within a set amount of time. 2. Time Management Assessment For businesses, time spent on employees not performing effectively or efficiently is a waste of resources. When hiring a new employee, one of their first tasks is to set clear expectations for their performance, including what needs to be accomplished and how quickly these tasks need to be completed. To do so, employers commonly administer time management skills assessments as part of a job interview process. A time management skills assessment is an excellent way for a hiring manager to assess if you can manage your time effectively in high-pressure situations. The test could involve something as simple as a timesheet, which asks you to record when you started and finished tasks throughout your working day. Alternatively, it could involve a series of timed mental arithmetic tests or other exercises that require quick decision-making on busy jobs. 3. Communication Skills Assessment Communication is a crucial skill for any job applicant. A communication skills assessment is designed to measure your listening, speaking, reading, and writing abilities. These assessments often include a mix of multiple-choice questions and practical exercises. In some cases, you may even be asked to interview someone or role-play a conversation between two fictional people. The communication skills assessment evaluates job applicants' ability to accurately and concisely convey messages and information, both verbally and in writing. Whether on a resume or cover letter, an applicant should clearly explain why they're a qualified candidate for their chosen position. You should demonstrate your skills with both written communication, such as e-mails, memos, and reports, and oral communication such as interviews, presentations, and speeches. Additionally, many HR departments ask job applicants to prepare and deliver an elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is a quick introduction about your product or service that allows you to sell your idea for 10 to 15 seconds, and no more than 20 to 30 seconds. When writing an elevator pitch, it's essential to be clear and concise while also giving enough information so that you may answer any questions. 4. Assessment for Software Use Skills Hiring companies can use third-party agencies like Employtest to test your skills in software use. The assessment may include evaluating how you can complete a predetermined computer task. For example, you might be asked to log in and out of several programs within a set duration, enter simple information into an application, or utilize primary spreadsheet functions. The purpose of these tests is to determine whether candidates have basic proficiency in typical office programs like Microsoft Word or Excel. A candidate who takes longer than others or makes more mistakes on these tasks is less likely to be hired. Tip: Learn how to use Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and other standard software programs. You must know your way around these programs because many jobs require you to use them. If you don't have much experience using these programs, then practice using them on your own time. One good method is to watch video tutorials or ask an experienced person how to use a computer and navigate standard software. 5. Problem-Solving Skill Assessment A problem-solving skills assessment can help measure whether an applicant can resolve issues that arise at work. Candidates should identify issues, propose potential solutions, and implement a method that fixes these problems as quickly as possible. There are various ways your skills can be tested using problem-solving assessments. You must prove your ability to approach problems logically, break them down into manageable steps, and work through them systematically. Your employer will ask you to do a problem-solving exercise and explain how you solved it. For instance, HR may give you a hypothetical scenario and ask how you would handle it effectively. Alternatively, you could be given a real workplace problem and asked what actions you would take in response or even how would you resolve a conflict in the workplace. 6. Critical Thinking Assessment This standard skill test is designed to test your critical thinking abilities. The critical thinking assessment tests an individual's ability to weigh both sides of an argument, identify faulty reasoning, and detect deception. The test may be presented in various ways and can involve written statements, reading comprehension, verbal interaction, or other communication tools. Since critical thinking is vital for success in so many jobs today, businesses often use critical thinking skills assessments as part of their hiring process. Here, you may be asked questions such as: Explain why it's important for employees on your team to stay updated on new technologies and information What techniques could you use to ensure that your team is always aware of technological advancements? The hiring managers use this type of assessment to determine how well you can think logically, solve problems, and make connections between different pieces of information. To learn more about recruitment methods, download our ebook now. Download now 7. Leadership Skills Assessment This assessment is meant to determine how well you handle yourself in a leadership role, whether your style is more visionary or hands-on. You'll usually be presented with a few scenarios and asked which you would choose and why. You may also be asked which characteristics of good leaders you possess. The leadership capabilities assessment is meant to measure what leadership qualities are innate and will develop over time instead of being taught. The assessment may also assess an individual’s leadership skills, analytical thinking, and decision-making abilities. Some common questions asked during these assessments include: How do you view and deal with change? How effective are you at making decisions? Are you good at getting people committed and involved in an idea? Do you know how to hire talented professionals, develop and retain excellent talent? 8. Technical Skills Assessment A technical skills assessment tests your ability and competence to use tools and understand complex processes in an industrial environment. Standard tools used for these assessments include computer programs, spreadsheets, calculators, blueprints, technical manuals, and other systems. During a technical skills assessment, you'll be given some project to complete in your own time that usually requires specific software or hardware. You'll then have a one-on-one session with an evaluator, who'll ask questions about your progress, assess whether your finished product meets stated requirements, and evaluate how proficient you are at using whatever was necessary for you to do your project. “Our hiring managers now have a reliable system that is easy to navigate. Our HR team can actively monitor the process, and assist if needed, but Onboard has helped them save so much valuable time and effort while increasing data accuracy. All of this has helped us improve compliance and gives us a powerful tool to achieve even more results in the future.” Kaylee Collins HR Analyst of Osmose Utilities Services, Inc Learn More 9. Personality Assessment When a business hires you, they usually want to know if you’re a good fit for the job. Personality assessments ask you questions about your personality and values. This assessment helps an employer understand how their work environment will affect you and deal with stressful situations effectively. A typical personality assessment will consist of an interview and delve into how you deal with stress, work in teams, and your career aspirations. Depending on where you're applying for a job and what type of company you're aiming for, there can be more than one type of personality test. You could receive one or more assessments depending on how many positions you're being considered for at a given company. Some questions will make you feel like you're being judged, while others may seem a little odd or out of place. 10. Job-Specific Assessment A job-specific assessment tests your knowledge of a specific job and demonstrates whether you have all the skills necessary for success. Your resume may be a powerful way to prove you have a lot of experience in your field, but it's a good idea to offer some proof that you can get stuff done. The hiring department will require you to take assessments; short quizzes that reveal job-specific skills. Endnote If you're applying for a job, there's no doubt you'll be facing some skills test or personality assessment during the hiring process. It may be a basic word puzzle or personality quiz or a more in-depth test with hundreds of questions and many different subsections. Whatever form your assessment takes, it's essential to know what skills test you can expect to encounter to prepare yourself in advance. Try Workmates Interactive Demo Click trough it yourself withinteractive demo. Try It Now 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!

It is rightly said that “You never know when a moment and a few sincere words can have an impact on a life.” When it comes to your professional life, there may be many occasions when you wish to thank your colleagues, but lack the words. A sincere thank-you for something nice the colleague does sets the tone for a good impression. When people feel valued and are able to express themselves openly, they are happy. Leadership requires providing employees with effective feedback. It is your responsibility as a leader to give them the chance to do so through effective employee feedback. This will help build a positive and engaged workplace culture at the company. No credit card needed Less than 5 min to set up Thank You Messages for Colleagues 1.You bring in your core expertise to this software development company, which remains an inspiration for the co-workers. Your sincerity and dedication towards work remains commendable. It has been a pleasure knowing you. 2.Your eye for detail and that ear for giving a patient hearing in any situation remains inspiring. It won’t be an overstatement to say that you remain a role model for your co-workers in this company. You bring positivity in all its true sense. 3.It has been a great learning experience with you. Your domain knowledge and expertise remain stupendous. You remain invaluable to this company in more than one way. Here’s a heartfelt thank you. 4. Your support and commitment to work in this company creates a positive workplace environment that remains an inspiration for co-workers. You may be part of any team; your energy remains truly infectious. It has been a pleasure knowing you. 5. The incredible work ethic and organizational skills that you bring to this company creates a positive influence. You inspire your co-workers in every way. Thank you is the least we can say. 6.Your co-workers have to say one thing in unison about you: a true role model. There is so much to learn from you in this company. Your professional expertise and domain knowledge is indeed unparalleled. So, it has been an immense pleasure to have you as a colleague. 7. I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the professional ethics and expertise that you bring to the table in this company. Your actions speak for themselves, and you inspire everyone around you in an exceptional way. You remain a true asset to this company. Thank you.Another way to show your appreciation is with the employee recognition software. 8.I take this opportunity to thank you for being a complete team player. Any team in a company can function efficiently only if there is proper coordination. Your helpful nature remains truly inspiring. It’s great to work with you. 9.There is so much to learn from you as a colleague in the company. I have realized from you the importance of supporting and nurturing our fellow colleagues in the workplace. I truly remain indebted to you for imparting me this essential skill. Thank you for being an amazing colleague. 10.A thank you is the least I can say for the support you give me as a colleague. In this company, you have emerged as a go-to individual on whom anyone can truly bank on for getting a job done. You remain an inspiration for others. Try Workmates Interactive Demo Click trough it yourself withinteractive demo. Try It Now 11.Your company as a colleague in the company tends to have a direct influence on the productivity level. It is no wonder that we remain such a strong team. So, kindly accept my sincere thanks for your constant support and inspiration. 12.It won’t be an overstatement to say that you are a great colleague. The professional attitude and approach towards your work continues to inspire me every day. There is so much to learn from you. Thank you for being the great person you are. 13.There have been times when you have stepped out of your way to help and support your colleagues in the company. I want to let you know that your efforts are noticed. Thank you, and please be sure to let me know when I can return the favour. 14.Thank you for being the most thoughtful colleague I could ask for. Your support and words of wisdom mean a lot to me. It makes sailing through a working day a lot easier on any given day in this company. We truly make a great team. 15.As they say, two heads are better than one, you compliment my work in so many ways. You have stood by me whenever I needed sound advice or a helping hand. Your efforts are commendable and truly inspiring. I take this opportunity to thank you. 16. Thank you for always sharing your professional knowledge and expertise. It’s so inspiring to have a colleague who helps others, and who contributes to the development of this company. You are a real asset to our work. 17.Thank you for always being such a tremendous help around the office. It’s good to know that when one of us is under pressure, you are always there to lend a helping hand, regardless of your workload. Your continued support is much appreciated. Here’s a big thank you from the bottom of my heart. 18. Your focused approach towards your goals has inspired me in many ways in this company. Your support has been invaluable in this company for your co-workers. I want to really thank you for your professional approach and attitude. 19. I consider myself truly lucky to have a co-worker like you. It is great working with you on any given day and personally, I have learned so much in this company. Thank you. 20.Your calm demeanor and professionalism are truly inspiring. Especially in situations when everything around us seems to be falling apart. There is so much to learn from you at every step. I count myself lucky and it remains such a pleasure to work with you. Thank you for everything. Workmates Self-Guided Tour We’ll show you how Workmates can engage everyone in your organization, transform your culture, and drive productivity to new heights. Start Now 21.Thank you for helping me in the company. Your thoughtfulness has helped me in overcoming some of the trying situations at work. It always remains an assurance to have you around. You truly are a great individual and an inspiring colleague. 22. You inspire confidence and I wish you to know that. It gives me great peace of mind to know that you are part of our company. You remain a benchmark of excellence for your colleagues. Thank you for all that you do. 23.Your incredible aptitude, dependability, and commitment to hard work push me to strive for excellence at work on any given day. You are an inspiration in every way, and I remain grateful to you for everything. 24. I am so grateful to have you as my colleague in this company. Your support remains invaluable on any given day at work. I wish to let you know what a difference you make to my working day. Thank you for your constant support. 25.Software development is all about cooperation and coordination besides domain knowledge. Your complete professional attitude towards aiding your colleagues in times of extreme pressure shows what a thoughtful person you are. I believe you are a true role model to the rest of our co-workers; this includes me as well. Thank you. 26. Thank you for sharing your expertise with me and helping to achieve a successful outcome in the company. It has been a great learning experience and knowing you as a wonderful colleague. 27. Thank you for being a thorough professional while multitasking. The way you have tackled projects at software development has been inspiring, and there is no doubt you helped your co-workers in more than one way. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful colleague. 28. I am truly appreciative of your consistent and dependable nature at work. Your support and your approach towards tackling projects at the company, no matter how difficult, remain inspiring. I am fortunate to be able to work with someone like you as a colleague. 29.It has been an exceptional experience working with you on the project in this company. I truly appreciate your work ethic and how you adopt an approach to pursue excellence. You inspire your colleagues in every way. Thank you for all your efforts. 30.I would like you to know how much I value you as a colleague in this company. Your professionalism and work ethic are truly commendable, and in fact, I can’t think of two better qualities to have in a colleague. It has been a great experience to have you as a colleague. 31. You remain a role model for your colleagues in more than one way. The way you conduct yourself at work on any given day remains inspiring. Your presence at the company inspires others to give their 100%. Thank you for being such a great colleague. 32. Thank you for being an impressive source of knowledge in this company. Your expert guidance has helped me fulfill the tasks in an efficient manner on several occasions. Thank you once again for being such a dependable colleague. 33. Thank you for the efforts you undertake every day, which make a difference to all of us in the company. Without your thoughtfulness, things wouldn’t run as efficiently as they do. I would like to think that I speak on behalf of everyone when I say that we truly appreciate it. 34. It is colleagues like you that make this company a great place to work. Thank you so much for the positive vibe that you bring to work every day. You are a real inspiration to me and everyone around you. 35. Thank you for always making an impact in this company. Your professionalism and positive energy spill over onto me and help keep me going whenever I am facing a trying situation at work. I wanted to let you know that you truly inspire me, thank you is the least I can say. Find Out How Much You Can Save by Switching to Workmates. Other HR Teams made the switch from Workplaceand save upwards of 60% Calculate Now 36. There is no one quite like you, and I mean that as a big compliment. You are an exceptional co-worker and I consider myself truly lucky in this company. Thank you for being such a wonderful colleague. 37. You truly are a gem at this company. I have never met anyone quite as dynamic and energetic as you are, and I really appreciate being able to work as a colleague. It remains an honor to be associated with you. Thank you. 38. You are not just a wonderful colleague but a remarkable human being. You brighten every workday with your positive energy and enthusiasm. Your presence means a lot for the company. You remain a true inspiration for me. 39. The dedication and effort you bring to the company remains exceptional. It remains inspiring to work with you as a colleague. Your energy and efficiency is something I try to adopt in my work too and I wanted you to know that. So, thank you in more than just one way. 40.Your domain knowledge and expertise in the company is truly commendable. It is such a good skill to be able to translate such a complex task into manageable goals. Thank you for your constant support and it remains a pleasure to have you as a colleague. Ending Note The benefits of this practice are immeasurable, and your employees will appreciate you. Consider going full-blown when it comes to expressing your appreciation instead of saying nothing or only a few words. The more the merrier. Your employees will appreciate this practice and the results are great.If you want to take it to the next level, take a look at our recognition and rewards platform called Workmates. “Our staff has praised the increased communication level Workmates delivers. We use it to communicate important project matters and give staff specific ‘kudos’ or even recognize their birthdays. More importantly, we use Workmates to clarify important project details that needed rapid dissemination among the entire team.” Christopher Baggott Chief Executive Officerator of Medlinks Cost Containment, Inc. and Medlinks Staffing, LLC. Learn More 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!

All employees should feel safe to work, learn, and grow. However, workplace harassment can eliminate your employees’ sense of comfort and safety at work. This harrowing experience might forever tarnish otherwise their positive experiences and memories in your company. Every employer and manager have the responsibility to ensure team members are safe from these kinds of threats and harm. One way to do this is to conduct online harassment training. Unfortunately, it can be a challenge to ensure engagement during these kinds of virtual training. This article provided some tips on how you can shape your sexual harassment training to encourage engagement and boost its effectiveness. If your business is based in New York City or nearby areas and you’re looking for a reliable online harassment training provider, there are a lot of reliable institutions you can reach out to. They usually offer interactive sexual harassment education and additional training for employees. This course training meets the compliance requirements from all 50 states, including New York State and California. 1. Ditch Theories And Focus On Real-Life Stories Most businesses’ human resources departments might make the mistake of simply discussing the boring, theoretical instances of workplace harassment. For instance, they tend to empathize with the rules and guidelines in place, but don’t explain any relatable or real-life applications. Employees need to be aware of how this annual training ties into their professional lives and work duties. So, if you’re comfortable with it, you can focus more on giving real-life stories or personal anecdotes to reveal what it is like to experience that offensive behavior. After all, the power of storytelling is one of the best ways to engage people. A good story can connect with people on an emotional level and actually holds their attention as certain scenarios unfold. Of course, you shouldn’t name names. You should simply highlight experiences from the past to help connect with employees. Behavior-based harassment training can humanize your topics through relevant examples and stories, motivating employees to reflect upon their conduct and think of what they can do to make positive changes. 2. Include Scenario-Based Examples Sharing real-life experiences may be limited. So, if you can, you should also include scenario-based examples of what workplace harassment looks like. Most harassment training includes videos where actors portray the scenarios. That said, unless you have the resources to have a professional-level video production available or to hire actors, it may be better to stick with written scenarios. Unrealistic or campy video examples can actually make it look like a joke and reduce the seriousness with which employees view the training. This can result in not fully understanding the gravity of the issue. 3. Incorporate VR Latest technological innovation like virtual reality has provided valuable benefits in several sectors, especially in the training industry. If you have the budget, you can incorporate VR as you include scenario-based examples in your sexual harassment prevention training to boost employee engagement. This can also help employees understand the purpose of such coaching better. Employee training sessions can include using digital VR goggles to immerse learners in a 3D world where they are subjected to different scenarios—whether they watch a co-worker experience harassment or their digital character experiencing it ‘firsthand.’ This allows employees to learn how to identify and respond to sexual harassment in the workplace when it’s happening to someone else. Also, it can teach employees how to react if it ever happens to them. Perhaps the greatest benefit of incorporating VR instead of simply explaining it is that the scenario can feel authentic and organic. Users will be prompted with suggested responses to a situation. The story would then unfold depending on what response they make or how long they react. 4. Encourage Safe Discussion and Collaboration Workplace harassment training is often done in teams. This helps promote a culture of openness and trust among employees which can help enhance their engagement levels. Encouraging your employees to discuss these issues and achieve the training goals and outcomes can increase interest in the harassment prevention training program and create more favorable conditions for active participation. You can also introduce collaborative activities that can cultivate their ability to work effectively with one another. Through this, you can promote knowledge and experience sharing. These activities can help drive toward a common goal and encourage the creation of solutions that will benefit everyone and the company as a whole. That said, workplace harassment is a sensitive topic. So, you must create a safe space where employees can openly discuss these topics. Make sure to include a moderator to control passionate conversations and debates because tempers can flare. You don’t want an online anti-harassment training discussion to become a new harassment platform. After all, in such situations, particularly online, people often attack each other with the excuse of “just being honest.” Conclusion Every business has the responsibility to maintain a workplace that’s free from any kind of harassment. Training your employees is a cost effective and valuable way of minimizing and preventing workplace harassment issues. Making sure your workers receive training will help make your company a safer, more positive workplace for everyone. To ensure effective online anti-harassment training, make sure to follow the above tips in keeping employees engaged, allowing them to be inspired to implement what they’ve learned into their lives. Establish workplace harassment prevention as compliance training. Ensure that the online training you acquire is compliant with federal and state training requirements and other local laws. You should also take any sexual harassment complaints and other grievances that may reach your knowledge seriously. Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee engagement, and intranet software. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, employee productivity, and to save you valuable time!

OKRs are used by teams and organizations everywhere to translate high-level strategy into short-term goals. As a team dedicated to managing your company’s human resources (HR), you might be overseeing teams who are using OKRs in their own work or are interested in implementing them for yourself. But while OKRs are a great tool for teams looking for ways to plan out what they intend to achieve and how to get there, they’re not the best for evaluating employee performance. Don’t fall into the trap of pinning compensation to key results. Instead, here are four ways you can use OKRs to bring out the best in your employees, encourage collaboration and drive employee engagement. Why OKRs Don’t Work Well for Performance Management Goal setting has historically been used by HR teams as a way to evaluate an employee’s performance. However, experts generally advise against the use of OKRs for traditional performance management, where employees are assessed and rewarded for individual performance. In fact, doing so can lead to situations where we see unhealthy competition between members of the same team, weak goals picked over challenging ones because they were easier to accomplish for a bonus, and demotivated employees. Instead, OKRs work best when used to measure team and company performance, not individuals. Rick Klau, Chief Technology Innovation Officer at Google, echoes this, saying, “OKRs are not synonymous with employee evaluations. OKRs are about the company’s goals and how each employee contributes to those goals.” Performance management should be separate from employee OKRs. As an HR team, use OKRs not for individual evaluation, but as a way to keep employees accountable, engaged, and inspired to work together towards a set of common goals. Tip: If you need help setting up an OKR framework for your team, here’s a handy guide to help. How HR Teams Can Use OKRs Effectively 1. Write high-level OKRs – for your own team Just like any other team, OKRs are a wonderful way for HR teams to set their own goals for the year. While the leadership team is responsible for setting the company direction or the ‘why,’ it is up to individual teams and departments to work together and set the ‘how.’ Get your team together to set the key results the team will work on for each cycle and the tasks needed to accomplish them. Don’t brainstorm alone; working together will help your team feel more connected to each other and other teams. You can also use a hierarchy tree that shows how tasks link back to each OKR as a reminder that the work done contributes to a wider goal. A screenshot from the OKR for Jira app Use a hierarchy tree to show who is responsible for which task, and how each key result relates back to the objectives. Lastly, don’t set easy goals. As an HR team manager, encourage stretch goals – if you’re completing every goal, you’re not aiming high enough. OKRs work best by pushing boundaries, not by setting easy goals. Here are some examples of OKRs that HR teams can set: Objective: Improve flexible work options for employees. KR #1: Evaluate three solutions for cloud storage and select the best one for the team. KR #2: Ensure sufficient IT support by having a 1:40 ratio of technicians to employees. KR #3: Achieve a 90% satisfaction rating of the new system. Objective: Improve the onboarding process for new employees. KR #1: Onboard all new employees within the first two months of them joining the company. KR #2: Increase the pass rate for new employees to 95%. KR #3: Achieve a 90% satisfaction rating of the onboarding process among newcomers. 2. Review teams’ OKRs to find gaps One of the most challenging tasks for HR teams is discovering how you can best support the teams under your purview so they can achieve more. It can be difficult to pinpoint exactly what the team needs outside of annual reviews or one-on-one meetings. The OKRs can be a great source of data on possible gaps. Every OKR cycle includes review meetings where teams are encouraged to bring up any issues or blockers they may have met along the way. Some of these issues may be things that HR can help with, such as ensuring a team has enough skilled people to complete a project within the period. Ask questions such as: What was the main reason that prevented you from completing the set goal? Was there a particular resource or skill that was lacking? What are your ideal working conditions to be the most productive? In addition, ensuring that employees have what they need to perform at their best at work will make them feel supported, raising engagement and motivation. 3. Focus on outcomes, not output OKRs boost performance on the whole because the objectives provide everyone a sense of purpose. By explicitly defining success, clear goals can enable employees to do their best work. While OKRs should not be a direct evaluation for employee performance and compensation, they can be a source of great data. For example, an employee who took initiative to set and lead a difficult goal, even if it wasn’t 100% achieved, is someone who showed accountability and demonstrated valuable leadership skills. Someone like that could be a great leader in the future. You can also use outcomes to design individual development plans. If something didn’t go well, one reason could be because the individual needed more training or experience in that area, which opens them up for a discussion on possible training plans. If something did go well and an employee excelled in a particular subject, they could be placed to teach others or become a subject-matter expert in the company. Don’t forget your own team. As a manager, give your teams qualitative feedback on OKR-related behavior, such as “I like how you took the lead by volunteering to oversee the first key result” or “If you’re not sure what to work on next, you could always refer back to the team’s OKRs when prioritizing tasks.” 4. Use OKRs to encourage (and reward) teamwork Successful teams collaborate and communicate well, and the OKRs provide a base system that encourages these traits. If you’re interested in using OKRs for your own HR team, set this expectation for teamwork from the start by including everyone involved during the goal-setting stage and keeping your goals transparent. When teams work together towards a goal, they’ll feel that they ‘own’ the product and share ownership in the results. If you’re supporting teams who use OKRs, look at the key results to see which teams have pulled together over the past year to achieve some truly incredible moonshot goals – these are the teams where everyone has contributed significantly over a period and should be recognized for their collaboration. Use a tool that tracks the progress of OKRs and links them to tasks assigned to teams. That way, you can monitor which key results a team has contributed to and identify highlights. How an OKR tool helps teams visualize and keep track of progress OKRs are a great tool for any team – especially HR teams. But managing multiple teams’ OKRs on top of your own processes can be challenging, which is why you might want to consider using a performance management tool or an OKR tracker. If your employees use Jira, the best way to get an overall view of the OKRs and how the work assigned contributes back to the goals is with a Jira app. OKR for Jira links Jira issues with OKRs, allowing HR teams and managers alike to see all the issues under each key result. It also comes with a shared dashboard to ensure transparency and help keep the OKRs fresh in everyone’s minds. Whether you are considering using OKRs for your own team or are supporting other teams using OKRs, a tool will help automate many of the small details, freeing you to focus on what matters the most – the people. Author Bio: Weronika Spaleniak is the Product Lead at Digital Toucan, an Atlassian app vendor dedicated to creating apps like OKR for Jira that bring data to life for agile teams. One of her most recent projects is an implementation guide designed to ensure a smooth rollout for teams looking to implement the OKRs.

Remote working is a term we have all become familiar with throughout the last two years. What was once a flexible working option offered to a handful of individuals has become something that most office workers are doing. With the recent news that introverts have thrived in these environments, and with companies big and small expressing an interest in continuing to work remotely, we have every faith this is something that is set to continue as we make our way into the new year and beyond. While remote working has certainly enabled companies to continue working as normal, it would be naïve to smooth over the obstacles remote workers face when adapting to this new way of working. As briefly mentioned previously, some people have thrived in this environment, but there will undoubtedly be some others who have found themselves struggling at varying points. Much like in the office workspace, there are obstacles at home to overcome to complete your job to the fullest extent. Interested in finding out a little more about these obstacles, but most importantly, how best to overcome them? Read on for more. 1. Being Comfortable When Working This is sure to be up there at the top of the list of obstacles that remote workers face in this day and age. When working from home, you want to ensure you are as comfortable as possible; having a numb butt or legs is sure to be distracting during one of your many zoom calls! While nothing stops you from working at the coffee table or using the sofa as your workspace, this is not something that is suitable as a long-term solution. Sitting on something like this is sure to cause a twinge in your back, which could cause more problems over time. At the same time, it is important to distinguish and uphold a separation between the working space in your home and the areas in which you relax. Creating an at-home office filled with suitable furniture and equipment will ensure you can complete your job to the fullest extent while remaining as comfortable as possible while doing so. If you find yourself without a specific room in your home, in which you could turn into a home office, using room separators and the likes is an ideal substitution. 2. Remaining Productive Throughout The Day We feel right in saying there are more distractions around you in your home than there would be in the workplace. From other family members being at home – whether through working from home or online schooling – to the precious family pet being needy, you might often find yourself drawn from your laptop screen and workload at various times of the day. Creating an area in the home for your office is one way of minimizing the distractions around you and is recommended by many who have been working from home for some time. Creating a routine and sticking to it is also something you should be thinking about when working from home. The temptation to work in your pajamas is sure to remain high but quash this habit as soon as you can; if you feel the part, you are sure to execute it as well. Productivity at home is something that we feel most people have struggled with at some point or another. While most employers understand their employees will be slightly more distracted than they usually would be, remote employees must take it upon themselves to find ways around this. Finding what works best for you and fits into your routine will go a long way and ensure you continue to complete your job to the best standard. 3. Feelings Of Loneliness and Isolation Social interaction is a key part of the workplace model. This includes chatting with your remote team members throughout the day and collaborating in person on projects you are working on. Remote working throws a metaphorical spanner in the works. Socialization and human interaction levels are reduced significantly when working from home, even when using video conferencing and messaging platforms to stay in contact. While there is no doubt these means of team communication make a bit of a difference in how one might be feeling, it is not a full substitute for chats with colleagues around the coffee station. When experiencing feelings like these, it is important to make it clear to your manager or superior; they will be able to work alongside you to combat them while referring you to any resources that might prove helpful. At the same time, there are measures you can take as an individual to tackle these feelings of loneliness and isolation, including setting aside a section of your day to talk with your colleagues, not just about work, but about in your personal life too. Doing what you can, both individually and collectively, will ensure that the wider team feels connected. 4. Technology Troubles We have all been victims to our laptops deciding to update at the most inconvenient moments, and it often feels like it is when we have the most to do! Experiencing technology problems is something that was commonplace in an office environment but is something that extends to the home working environments too. From the likes of poor broadband speeds to loading speeds remaining low, these are obstacles that many workers face, which can be challenging to tackle. Should you find you are experiencing slow broadband, consider getting a Wi Fi extender for your home or connecting your device manually using an ethernet cable. On the other hand, you could consider contacting your provider and negotiating for a different package, including faster speeds. Regarding your laptop updates, checking whether there are any updates at the end of the working day before logging off is always recommended. It would prevent the laptop from updating during crucial parts of your day. Not to mention, these updates are often released as a means of securing your device from third parties while also ensuring your laptop can use any software or programs relevant to your job. Many obstacles crop up throughout the working day; some will disrupt your working rhythm, while some will not. Knowing how best to tackle and overcome them is the best way of navigating this process and ensures you remain a motivated and exemplary member of the team when you work from home! 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!

Hiring quality talent and training them to become the best version of themselves is the dream of every company, especially ones that are new to the business scene. And a lot even achieve that by hiring brilliant HR Services but retaining your talent while adding on new hires is where the skill comes in. And good employee retention is the sign of a great HR consultant. In this blog post, we will discuss different tactics used by HR companies to make sure you can retain your workforce for as long as possible! So, without further ado, let's start! 6 Employee Retention Strategies by HR Services: It's the job of an HR consulting firm to make sure employees keep engaged with the company and don't leave for any outside offer they may get. To see through to this, there are a few strategies they make use of. Let's discuss them in detail. Recognition and Rewards: Employees love to be appreciated for their hard work. It makes them feel comfortable and valued and like they are a part of something special. The HR team makes sure that employees receive recognition in the form of awards, privileges or even simple thank-yous from time to time. This can keep them happy and more likely to stick around for longer periods of time. You may start to see improved employee retention rates after implementation of this strategy. Flexible Work Arrangements: The work arrangement is one of the most important aspects that employees look for in a job. Nobody wants to be stuck at their desk from nine to five when they could be out enjoying the sun. That's why HR offers flexible working hours and even remote work policies so that employees can have a little more control over their time. This encourages employees and gives them a sense of freedom and makes them stay with you for a long period of time. If you are looking for exceptional outsourced HR consultancy then HR Options is worth taking a look at. Their expertise in the field of Human Resources can be a great asset to your company. Opportunities for Growth: No employee wants to feel like they are stuck in the same position forever, doing the same thing day in and day out. This is why it's crucial to provide opportunities for growth within the company. Knowing that there are chances to be promoted or get responsibilities of bigger projects is what keeps employees engaged. Secondly, if an employee sees himself growing with a company, they are less likely to leave. It’s great for professional development. Team Collaboration: Collaborating with other team members and making new friends in the office can not only make work more fun but also encourage them to stay longer. This has been proven by different studies which show that people who enjoy working together tend to stick around for much longer periods than they would otherwise! The HR team can plan interactive sessions to make sure the employees share healthy communication together. However, remember while you put different people together there can always be conflicts. This is totally normal, to avoid any ugly outcomes, you should always haverisk management solutionsin place. Company Culture: A strong company culture always helps when it comes to employee retention. If management encourages a family environment within the organization, then most employees feel like this is their own little space where they can flourish without any discrimination. And this makes them want to stay. Outstanding Onboarding Process: Lastly, a good onboarding experience is yet another way of retaining employees. As soon as an employee joins the company, it's important that they feel welcome and get familiar with their surroundings quickly to avoid any miscommunication or confusion later on. HR teams should make sure this happens properly by planning out all events in advance according to what suits the situation best. This includes proper introduction of the new hire to all employees and little welcome gifts that go a long way. It Improves work environment and employee turnover rate. As you can see, there are a lot of ways HR Services can make sure you get the best out of your employees. With all this knowledge about employee retention, we believe you are better equipped to overhead any HR service you may hire. Labor market could be hard to understand on your own. Hiring HR can be a worthy investment into the future of your company! Frequently Asked Questions: I'm not sure what my employees are looking for in a job. How can I find out? One great way to do this is by conducting a survey or simply asking them directly in an interview. This can give you a good idea of what they want and how you can accommodate their needs long term. What if my company can't afford to offer flexible hours or work from home policies? You don't have to! There are other ways to show your employees that you care about their work-life balance such as providing opportunities for growth, team collaboration, and maintaining a strong company culture. You can offer side activities like games to relax and destress in the normal working hours to make up for it. Is it really necessary to provide opportunities for growth? Employees might be content with where they are at the moment but that can only keep going like this for so long. You have to provide opportunities of growth for your employees to stay with you. 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!

Remote working is a term we have all become familiar with throughout the last two years. What was once a flexible working option offered to a handful of individuals has become something that most office workers are doing. With the recent news that introverts have thrived in these environments, and with companies big and small expressing an interest in continuing to work remotely, we have every faith this is something that is set to continue as we make our way into the new year and beyond. While remote working has certainly enabled companies to continue working as normal, it would be naïve to smooth over the obstacles remote workers face when adapting to this new way of working. As briefly mentioned previously, some people have thrived in this environment, but there will undoubtedly be some others who have found themselves struggling at varying points. Much like in the office workspace, there are obstacles at home to overcome to complete your job to the fullest extent. Interested in finding out a little more about these obstacles, but most importantly, how best to overcome them? Read on for more. Being Comfortable When Working This is sure to be up there at the top of the list of obstacles that remote workers face in this day and age. When working from home, you want to ensure you are as comfortable as possible; having a numb butt or legs is sure to be distracting during one of your many zoom calls! While nothing stops you from working at the coffee table or using the sofa as your workspace, this is not something that is suitable as a long-term solution. Sitting on something like this is sure to cause a twinge in your back, which could cause more problems over time. At the same time, it is important to distinguish and uphold a separation between the working space in your home and the areas in which you relax. Creating an at-home office filled with suitable furniture and equipment will ensure you can complete your job to the fullest extent while remaining as comfortable as possible while doing so. If you find yourself without a specific room in your home, in which you could turn into an office, using room separators and the likes is an ideal substitution. Remaining Productive Throughout The Day We feel right in saying there are more distractions around you in your home than there would be in the workplace. From other family members being at home – whether through working from home or online schooling – to the precious family pet being needy, you might often find yourself drawn from your laptop screen and workload at various times of the day. Creating an area in the home for your office is one way of minimizing the distractions around you and is recommended by many who have been working from home for some time. Creating a routine and sticking to it is also something you should be thinking about when working from home. The temptation to work in your pajamas is sure to remain high but quash this habit as soon as you can; if you feel the part, you are sure to execute it as well. Productivity at home is something that we feel most people have struggled with at some point or another. While most employers understand their employees will be slightly more distracted than they usually would be, employees must take it upon themselves to find ways around this. Finding what works best for you and fits into your routine will go a long way and ensure you continue to complete your job to the best standard. Feelings Of Loneliness and Isolation Human interaction and socialization are all part of the workplace model. This includes chatting with your colleagues throughout the day and collaborating in person on projects you are working on. Remote working throws a metaphorical spanner in the works. Socialization and human interaction levels are reduced significantly when working from home, even when using video calls and messaging platforms to stay in contact. While there is no doubt these means of communication make a bit of a difference in how one might be feeling, it is not a full substitute for chats with colleagues around the coffee station. When experiencing feelings like these, it is important to make it clear to your manager or superior; they will be able to work alongside you to combat them while referring you to any resources that might prove helpful. At the same time, there are measures you can take as an individual to tackle these feelings of loneliness and isolation, including setting aside a section of your day to talk with your colleagues, not just about work, but about things outside of work too. Doing what you can, both individually and collectively, will ensure that the wider team feels connected. Technology Troubles We have all been victims to our laptops deciding to update at the most inconvenient moments, and it often feels like it is when we have the most to do! Experiencing technology problems is something that was commonplace in an office environment but is something that extends to the home working environments too. From the likes of poor broadband speeds to loading speeds remaining low, these are obstacles that many workers face, which can be challenging to tackle. Should you find you are experiencing slow broadband, consider getting a WiFi extender for your home or connecting your device manually using an ethernet cable. On the other hand, you could consider contacting your provider and negotiating for a different package, including faster speeds. Regarding your laptop updates, checking whether there are any updates at the end of the working day before logging off is always recommended. It would prevent the laptop from updating during crucial parts of your day. Not to mention, these updates are often released as a means of securing your device from third parties while also ensuring your laptop can use any software or programs relevant to your job. Many obstacles crop up throughout the working day; some will disrupt your working rhythm, while some will not. Knowing how best to tackle and overcome them is the best way of navigating this process and ensures you remain a motivated and exemplary member of the team! 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!

A company culture that encourages employee engagement is pretty important for your organization, but can it actually reduce fear of the future? When done right, engaged, confident employees aren’t the only benefit of a positive company culture. Psychological safety is vital for team innovation, but employers fail to encourage confidence in their employees when it comes to sharing their ideas. It’s much easier to default to safe silence. No one wants to risk their job over an idea, comment, or disagreement. In some cases, where employees are encouraged to speak up, 56% of them won’t because they don’t think they’ll receive credit for their ideas. Knowing why your employees feel afraid of speaking up is essential. It’s the whole reason why cultural assessments are a thing. By getting to the bottom of why your employees can’t see a future in your company, you’ll start to understand why they’re afraid of their future, in general. In the end, it all comes down to improving your company culture. If you follow our steps, you’ll be able to create a culture that increases employee engagement across your company. Why Employees are Afraid of the Future Our employees don’t exist in a vacuum; they have lives separate from work, previous employers, and varying life experiences that influence how they speak and act. Speaking Up In the Workplace A tight-lipped workplace is a constant across industries, cultures, and countries. Employees often withhold their voice because they think it will not be heard or fear it will backfire. There are two theories as to why employees remain silent in the workplace. One is the personality perspective, where employees lack the disposition to stand up. The other is the situational perspective, where work environments don’t encourage speaking out. Based on research, strong environmental norms override the influence on personality on the employee’s willingness to speak up. In other words, social norms matter more than timidness when an employee decides whether they should or shouldn’t speak up. A Culture Ruled By Fear A Harvard University piece explored what factors lead to the cultural phenomenon of being fearful in the workplace. Harvard found that self-preservation, implicit assumptions, and hostility led to silence. Employees won’t speak out unless they won’t experience consequences. Management is aware that they hold power that the employee doesn’t. If an employee speaks out, even in a helpful way, management could fire them, and they can’t do anything about it. Wrongful dismissal is illegal, but that doesn’t stop employers from breaking the law. For example, although recognizing your unconscious biases can make you a more inclusive leader in your organization, it’s still a rampant problem in the workplace. 40% of employees who make an accusation over discrimination face retaliation, punishment, and/or layoffs. Although most employees avoid rocking the boat from the assumption of punishment, some employers will actively discourage it and accuse their employees of “whistleblowing.” For instance, Canada’s Phoenix pay system fiasco cost the federal government $1.5 billion. The cause? A company culture that won’t “reward those who share negative news.” To summarize: employers who hide information from their employees, reprimand them for small mistakes, and/or micromanage tasks scare their staff into silence. At the same time, employers who don’t clarify if an employee can speak up when necessary also silence their workforce. Is it any wonder at this point why employees are terrified of the future? Fear of the Future: What to Change Fear of the future is more than just an abstract idea. There are several reasons why your employees are unwilling to take chances, make mistakes, or speak up, including: Fear of Failure Embarrassment Underperformance Rejection Change Isolation Confrontation Speaking up over concerns, options, and ideas is vital for organizational performance and innovation. On the other hand, silence is the cause of many disasters, like the Boeing incident, where employees felt pressured to work insane hours or lose their jobs. It shouldn’t take a disaster for your organization to change its company culture. A strong company culture can improve employee performance, staff retention, morale, financials, job satisfaction, and recruitment. It’ll also reduce employee stress and absenteeism. Above all, company culture will keep your employees engaged and invested in their job. You should make it your company’s mission to create a culture that prioritizes employee happiness. Engaged Employees in the 21st Century As of writing this, employees are still rebounding from COVID-19's impact on the workforce. According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report, 45% of people say their life has been affected “a lot” by the pandemic. Gallup suggests leaders invest in an employee engagement strategy if they want to support the current workforce and build organizational resilience. Gallup’s 2017 report showed that 15% of employees worldwide were engaged in their jobs. After years of a steady climb from 15% to 22% in 2019, employee engagement dropped two points in 2020. Gallup blames a poor employer response to remote work and the pandemic as the cause. Employee stress reached a record high level in 2020, moving up five points from 2019. 43% of employees say they’re stressed at work. Employers need to address this to decrease burnout. To help find disengaged employees in your business, we recommend utilizing engagement surveys. However, it’s essential to remain objective here. An anonymous employee engagement survey will ease your team member's fears of reporting in the first place. How to Increase Employee Engagement This Year Employee engagement fuels your staff with drive and motivation to complete tasks. Encouraging your employees to speak up is difficult, but adding the following techniques will make it easier. Step 1: Set Clear SMART Goals Creating well-thought-out goals can help you create an employee engagement program that works. To motivate your employees, you should consider asking them what they need from you. To do this, we recommend following the SMART goal-setting method because it enables you to develop specific, measurable goals that are attainable, relevant to you, and timely. Specific: I want to create an employee engagement program that increases productivity. Measurable: I will track my progress by calculating completed projects over the month. Attainable: I have enough resources and manpower to achieve my goals. Relevant: There is a clear value for my team. More productivity = more cash flow. Time-Bound: I will finish three more projects by the end of the month. The SMART tool can give your team the clarity and focus they’ll need to achieve their goals. Step 2: Establish and Communicate Company Values Your company’s core values are the principles and beliefs that unite your team. They’re a key feature of great company culture because they help employees feel like an integral part of your company. However, they have to be cohesive, authentic, and clear to work in your favor. Your company’s values must be audible across all your internal communications, from your leadership seminars to your company newsletter. Businesses can accomplish this by using logos, graphics, slogans, and customer service initiatives that unify their brand’s voice. Step 3: Improve Your Onboarding Program A standardized onboarding experience keeps employees engaged. In fact, employees who undergo an onboarding program with a clear structure and managerial guidance are 54% more engaged than those who don’t because they understand their role within the company. Step 4: Offer Competitive Compensation and Benefits Low pay is the second most common reason people quit, but poor company culture, lack of work-life balance, and sub-par benefits packages often land in the top ten. The easiest way to boost employee engagement is to appropriately compensate your staff for what they do. If you can’t give your employees a pay raise, consider updating your benefits program. A fantastic physical/mental health package will reduce employee fear of future health problems. Step 5: Measure Employee Engagement By tracking your employee engagement programs, you can determine where your organization stands and where improvements are necessary. Start by monitoring communication, like: Email opens Read time Anonymous comments Survey responses By crunching the numbers, you can put resources in the places and progress your program. Step 6: Encourage Feedback and Celebrate Achievements Recognition and positive employee feedback empowers your staff to reach for the stars. Start by telling your team that they did a great job on their project, or comment on their preparedness at your next meeting. You can even acknowledge your top performers in your weekly newsletter. Employers should also encourage regular feedback from their team members. Use employee surveys that ask about general happiness, recognition, and how likely they are to recommend your business. Step 7: Plan Team-Building Activities Humans spend 30% of their life working, making workplace relationships vital to your employees' happiness. By implementing team-building activities, you encourage open communication and collaboration, which are necessary components to resolving conflicts. Step 8: Invest in Employee Wellness Research shows that wellness benefits were crucial for employees during COVID-19, but they’ll still matter post-pandemic. Your employees want to do well, but if they’re sleep-deprived or stressed due to an upcoming deadline, their morale suffers. Poor morale extends to a decrease in productivity, which affects your bottom line significantly. Ensuring wellness means taking an active interest in your employees' mental and physical wellbeing. You can do this by creating a wellness program and using your intranet. Step 9: Promote Inclusion in the Workplace Another important way to invest in wellness is by promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Employers should welcome people of all backgrounds and value their ideas. An open company encourages speaking out against problems affecting minorities. Step 10: Create Mentorship Programs and Development Opportunities Your employees want to grow with your company. By offering mentorship programs and development opportunities, you can engage your employees throughout their tenure. To set up these opportunities, send out a weekly newsletter to ask who’s interested in taking the next step. 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!

A report by Gallup affirms that employee engagement is a prime factor in building a future-ready workforce that drives a company's success. A highly engaged workforce can achieve 21 percent higher profitability than the others. No wonder, firms like Google are acing at employee engagement. In fact, a 37 percent increase in employee happiness and engagement transformed Google's productivity. Thus, increasing employee engagement can pay big dividends in the long term. Here are fifteen effective tactics to increase employee engagement and boost your ROI. #1: Strengthen Internal Communication Clear communication is the foundation of a successful team. Surprisingly, 70 percent of team leads hesitate to communicate openly with their team. The converse is also true among team members, especially the new joiners. Also, avoid overwhelming employees with emails to address the communication gap instead create a standard operating procedure that explains the employee how to complete specific tasks or operations. Trust your team to deliver tasks as planned. Tools, such as Slack, Trello, and Zoom, offer a robust platform for communication and collaboration. Invest in them to create an engaging and productive environment. #2: Stop Micromanaging No one appreciates micromanagers. Over-scrutinizing can result in poor employee morale and staff turnover. Research states that micromanagement is one of the top reasons employees left their jobs. Set timely goals and trust your team's ability to achieve them. The focus should be on achieving the expected outcomes, not how your team gets there. Here are a few quick tips to consider. Convey realistic expectations. Implement a project management system to view their daily work status. Encourage open communication. Share constructive feedback. Allow your team to learn through mistakes and failures. Be upfront while discussing work-related concerns. #3: Offer Employees the Tools They Need Equip your employees with the right tools they need. For instance, a developer might need software to streamline their work. This will save them a lot of mundane and manual work. So, get your employees’ opinions on the tools they need to make their job easy. Involving them in the decision-making process will keep them engaged and boost their morale. #4: Listen to Their Concerns A simple - "Do you need any help?" can make employees feel valued and respected. HR professionals and team leaders that listen to employee concerns can achieve 20-25 percent higher productivity. #5: Develop a Standard Feedback Process As an HR leader, it's your responsibility to create a constructive feedback system that helps employees learn and grow. Almost 69 percent of workers say they would put in more effort if their work gets recognition. Thus, random feedback goes a long way in keeping employees engaged and motivated to perform. But try to develop a standard feedback process that allows you to identify their professional strengths and weaknesses. Below are some tips to help you create an effective feedback system. Share the insights with their manager and ask for their opinion. Give them ratings on work and behavioral aspects. Arrange a personalized meeting to share the feedback. Explain that feedback is about their work and not personal. Suggest improvement paths that support their professional growth. Allow them to respond with honesty. Communicate with them at regular intervals to keep them engaged. #6: Make Them a Part of Your Business Vision One of the most successful companies, Walt Disney, had the vision to be the world's leading entertainment provider. Disney’s success was a result of aligning its team with its vision. They kept everyone on the same page by maintaining transparency. This practice boosted their employees' engagement and productivity, which resulted in massive success The lesson? Every company begins its journey with a vision. Most companies fail to align their employees with the business vision. Sharing your goals during the induction session is not enough. It’s equally important to share the vision and tell them how their role and contribution impact the vision. This simple tactic will help your team relate to the bigger picture and feel valued, thereby boosting engagement. #7: Recognize and Reward Their Work If you check Google, you will find around 1,98,00,000 searches for "how to stay motivated when you hate your job." This clearly points to the massive number of professionals feeling workplace burnout. As an HR leader, it can seem impossible to engage and retain unhappy professionals. But rewarding and recognizing their efforts can work wonders! Show some appreciation by rewarding your dedicated employees. Here's a screenshot of a survey conducted by O. C. Tanner that reflects how appreciation is the most crucial driver of great work. What's more? Here are a few more benefits of recognizing your employees. Create a positive workplace. Encourage friendly competition. Increase motivation to work. Improve work productivity. Boost employee retention rate. #8: Hold Informal Chat Sessions Once a Week Team meetings are an integral part of any organization. Since the onset of COVID-19, the frequency of communication has increased even more. However, multiple calls and emails between routine work can overwhelm employees. So, as an HR leader or manager, give your team some breather by arranging informal chat sessions once a week. Whether your team works from the office or home, try conducting informal chat sessions over a cup of coffee. During these sessions, talk about anything but work. Such conversations break down silos and create a sense of trust between your team. Most importantly, such sessions can refresh their moods and reduce stress after a long day at work. #9: Organize Health and Wellness Activities It's common to find employees with clutter on their work desk, a to-do list on their pinboard, and a dull look on their faces. Working for nine to twelve hours in a competitive environment can be stressful. Such a work culture not just affects their health but also their performance. Further, it can lead to - Lower productivity Absenteeism Turnover Decreased job satisfaction Reduced engagement Greater conflicts with colleagues No manager or HR wants to lose talent to health issues. But, most don't realize it until it is too late. Here are five wellness activities that can help you uphold employee health. Incorporate walking meetings to ensure that everyone gets up and moving. Allow everyone to take ten minutes of meditation breaks to turbocharge their minds. Encourage your employees to follow a healthy meal plan. Bring a doctor to your workplace for regular checkups. Throw wellness challenges to motivate your employees to stay fit. #10: Arrange Team Building Activities The primary goal of team-building activities is to encourage your team to interact with each other. When done right, they can increase employee engagement. Here are some fun team activities to help you get started. Blind Drawing: It requires two teams. A player from any team needs to draw an object blindfolded. His team needs to guess what he's drawing. This activity will help you check the employee's imagination power. Truth and Lies: Here, participants need to write three statements – one lie and two truths. They need to read out loud what they have written. Others need to guess whether that's a lie or truth. The coworkers that make the correct guesses win the game. This activity breaks the ice between employees and promotes fun interactions. Office Makeover: Create a couple of teams and allow them to decorate their desks. The team with the most creative desk makeover wins. It's simple yet engaging and fun. #11: Upskill Employees to Boost Their Career Growth Upskilling is vital for anyone who wants to stay relevant. In a famous interview with The Corp, Tom Bilyeu, the co-founder of Quest Nutrition, highlighted how skillful employees can boost the profitability of businesses. He also advised professionals to focus on skills rather than money. Arranging career training programs can empower your employees to a great extent. As an HR or team lead, talk to the management and conduct insightful learning sessions once a month. By investing in your staff's long-term career growth, you can create, engage, and retain valuable assets for the organization. #12: Invite a Motivational Speaker If you have access to a renowned motivational speaker, invite them to your workplace for a talk. Suggest a few topics that you'd like them to talk about. It is a great way to set an example and let your employees understand how hard work can bring success. Arrange the necessary infrastructure and see how these inspiring sessions add value to your employees' lives. #13: Show Genuine Care Nurturing a culture of genuine care and kindness can make employees feel valued and enhance their engagement with an organization. As an HR professional or team manager, take some time and think about articulating your care for them. Your approach should be genuine. For instance, try helping your juniors when they feel overworked. Offer them a cup of coffee, or take them out for lunch. Be attentive to the professional needs of your team. Compliment them for their efforts. Such small gestures can have a more powerful impact than you might imagine. #14: Let Your Team Suggest Innovative Ideas Innovative ideas can take any business to the next level. But brainstorming for innovative ideas needs time. As an HR professional, create a forum where employees can share their ideas and suggestions. This strategy can keep them engaged and boost their forward-thinking abilities. One of the largest organizations, Walmart, follows this tactic to build a culture of innovation and unlock the potential of its assets. #15: Emphasize Work-Life Balance Every organization wants to attract and retain motivated, talented, productive, and loyal employees. Unfortunately, employee turnover is a problem that is getting worse with time. The reason is the lack of work-life balance. Brain Kropp from the Gartner HR team mentions, “Ultimately, employees want their 9-to-5 to look like their 5-to-9, and the organizations that deliver on that idea will gain a competitive advantage.” Here are a few tips that will help engage and retain your best assets. Create process documentation to streamline the work. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your employees. Assign work according to their experience and capabilities. Identify their early stages of burnout. Offer greater work flexibility whenever you can. Offer holiday packages to the top-performing employees. Conclusion As your organization grows, you need more engaged, productive, and skilled professionals to bring your vision to life. Tremendous growth and higher ROI are possible only with a strong team by your side. Follow the tips shared in this article to keep your employees engaged and build a super successful organization. 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!

The transition to a hybrid collaborative environment has changed the workplace for many people and their living conditions. Many don't have time to adapt to the rapid changes, affecting their psychological well-being. What’s the mental health of the hybrid team, and how to identify disruptions in it? How can we analyze problems and help hybrid team members develop robust mental health? Tips on how to improve the mental health of employees and the atmosphere in the company. Mental Wellness In The Team The changes in our lives happen faster than we expect and can cope with. For example, the global pandemic has been lingering for years. And humanity has had to adapt to post-covid conditions of existence, including in the workplace. To avoid the collapse of entire economies, many companies have begun to adopt a system of hybrid collaboration. It means that part of the team may work in the office or stay at home and work remotely. Often, remote workers may not even be residents of the country in which the company operates. Therefore, the team faces challenges such as time and language barriers, establishing interaction, understanding, and support among hybrid team members, distancing the office team from the remote unit, or cyberbullying. In such an environment, HR team representatives must monitor both the healthy interaction of the entire team and each team member. Hybrid team cohesion speaks to the unique communication within the group. Cohesion neutralizes external ways of relating, making the team members' internal, psychological, and social relationships more significant. In a cohesive team, its members are optimistic; they trust each other and feel secure, confident, and comfortable. They can give each other mutual support and show warmth and attention in relationships. Trustful rapport arises within the team and affects the emotional state of each employee. In a healthy team, open communication is one of the pillars for employees to work effectively. One can show confidence and cheerfulness, think freely, grow professionally, contribute to the organization's development, and make mistakes without fear of punishment. A mentally healthy person can intelligently and adequately perceive, label, and filter information. In addition, a healthy person can quickly adapt to a new environment, see the role, situational, and positional changes. Mental Health Challenges Employees Face The mental health of team members is affected by a variety of factors. Examples of organizational problems include ineffective communication and management practices, lack of participation in decision-making, long hours or inflexible schedules, and lack of team cohesion. It is well known that workplace harassment and psychological violence are causes of work-related stress and mental health problems. In addition, remote team members are more likely to suffer from poor health due to a lack of physical activity. Pressures put on employees at work and externally can lead to mental health problems. Therefore, employees need to be as productive as possible, constantly strive for self-development, do their jobs well, and cooperate positively while avoiding toxicity. Such high demands can lead to: Anxiety Excessive perfectionism Excessive self-criticism Guilt Fear of failure Fear of deadlines Burnout, etc And they, in turn, lead to a deterioration in mental health. It is essential to see the signs in time and assess the risks: Signs of deteriorating mental health: Increasing irritability Inattention Increased sensitivity to criticism Isolation from the team, from socializing Tardiness or, on the contrary, staying late Rapid fatigue Frequent illnesses Misunderstandings in a hybrid team Tips for Maintaining Employees’ Mental Health The mental well-being of a hybrid team and its members is beneficial to the success of the organization as well as the health, professional fulfilment, and quality of life of employees. Short or even long vacations often don't help. After all, employees can't get rid of their thoughts about work, even for a weekend on the verge of emotional exhaustion. So they keep worrying about work problems on the one hand and their unproductivity on the other. The person in charge of human relations should form an environment where every team member, working remotely or in the office, feels present and engaged. Here are tips for maintaining employees' mental health: Introduce mandatory training for company management. It will help increase their knowledge and interest in mental health. Explain to managers what to do if they see signs of emotional distress and substance abuse. Conduct employee surveys to determine how their health and stress levels affect productivity. Reduce stigma and increase access to psychological help. People need to feel that it's essential and that the topic is not stigmatized. So that it's okay for them to tell management that they have anxiety, they're going through a difficult time, or they're just tired. Creating a Healthy Hybrid Team Environment For hybrid team members to keep their mental health in mind, it's important to remind them to do so and provide the right work environments. Working remotely is a severe challenge for anyone because it is difficult to remain a corporate employee from a distance. The hybrid work format itself requires additional team-building activities to relieve accumulated fatigue from social deprivation as well as the inability to fully communicate with colleagues and be in the community. Create an environment Employees should be comfortable working and interacting with each other. Offer flexible work schedules for all staff. Provide access to applications that help improve collaboration. Host team-building events It is particularly relevant for hybrid teams. Building a solid team is possible through offline and online off-the-job events. Offer team activities that involve everyone. Manage the workload Workload management is not just about coffee breaks and deadlines. Employees need to maintain a healthy work-life balance; have a clear understanding of their areas of responsibility, and provide feedback to each other and their superiors. Promote a personalized approach Be sure to acknowledge achievements and praise employees. Avoid public criticism, trolling and sarcasm in internal team communication. Resist all forms of bullying. Don't criticize, explain For many people, mistakes are still a tragedy. It is vital to develop an understanding that you can make mistakes, that you have flaws, and this is normal. Explain to employees their mistakes without negative emotional coloring. Reduce perfectionism Perfectionism takes a lot of energy and rarely positively affects a person's emotional health. There is nothing wrong with striving for the best. However, this aspiration should not take precedence over all other spheres. Offer to counsel Counseling with specialists can help take care of themselves and their loved ones, maintain their work-life balance, improve efficiency, the ability to see familiar things from a different perspective, and many other things that characterize mental health. How To RecognizeYour Employees How can you recognize your employees on a day-to-day basis and in the long term? There are several ways to successfully show your appreciation. The following employee recognition examples demonstrate how you can achieve an effective employee recognition program. Remember, the better you know your staff, the better chance you have of rewarding them. Conclusion It is important to emphasize that a team where people are united by a common goal and joint activity brings effective, productive results and moral satisfaction to each member of the group; it has a positive impact on the individual's psychological health. One can describe a healthy work environment as the one in which employees and managers are actively involved in shaping the working environment by preserving and protecting the health, safety, and well-being of the entire staff. It is necessary to create and maintain a healthy psychological climate because the profession, attitudes toward work, and atmosphere in the company have a significant impact on a person's ability to work and health as well. Author Bio: Kyle McDermott is a web developer, blogger, blockchain enthusiast, and business analyst. He loves to write about new technologies, business news, and sports events. Kyle is also a proofreader atComputools.

The ultimate guide to knowing how your colleagues tick, and more importantly, why. Across multiple fields and industries, we live in an age in which data analytics is helping to streamline business processes and boost efficiency. In the world of HR, a data-driven approach is being used to enhance productivity, decrease staff churn, and create happier, healthier employees. The process of using data analytics in HR is known as people analytics. In this article, we’ll be covering the basics of people analytics and looking at some of the options available to HR professionals interested in analyzing staff data to optimize the employee experience. What is People Analytics? People analytics refers to the technology and process of collecting data on worker activity for the purpose of analysis. Also known as workforce analytics when done in a business context, companies do this in order to improve employee productivity and maintain a happy workforce. Sources of employee data that can be used for analytics include performance data and staff feedback. Many HR professionals also integrate their basic performance data, such as sales numbers or customer engagement metrics, with other analytics processes. For example, contact centers use real-time speech analytics that automatically transcribes conversations. This information can then be used for evaluation and training to enhance agents’ performance. 6 Advantages of People Analytics 1. Better Decision Making While in the past, HR professionals relied on intuition and subjective experience when it came to making decisions. These days analytics software and better employee data are helping to drive more objective, data-based decision-making. Thanks to people analytics, HR departments are able to generate genuine insights from both performance data and employee feedback in order to make decisions that are statistically more likely to lead to success. HR software can help you answer questions like which worker is best suited to a given task, who would most benefit from professional development courses, and when to redirect resources to best optimize workflows. 2. Improve Staff Retention One of the most important tasks for HR teams in any business is increasing the rate of staff retention. Ultimately, it’s better to keep staff than to spend lots of time and money recruiting and training new employees. Thanks to a technique known as predictive modeling, people analytics software is able to flag employees that show signs of having a high level of flight risk. As an HR professional, being able to identify staff members that are at risk of leaving is the first step to being able to proactively encourage them to stay. 3. Increase Transparency Another central task for HR departments that is improved by people analytics is the process of communicating the hows and whys of business decisions to employees. Embracing people analytics improves transparency because of the simple and intuitive data visualization capabilities of modern analytics software. Clear and effective communication is important because if people can see and interpret data for themselves they’re able to better understand what is required of them in the context of strategic business objectives. This leads to increased accountability and better relationships with managers and administrators Transparency is especially key to successful remote workforce management, where different means and levels of communication can sometimes lead to misunderstandings. 4. More Satisfied Employees Workforce engagement is essential for running a successful business. Happier employees are more productive, more efficient, and more loyal. At the end of the day, employee satisfaction is what HR is all about. Using people analytics can help you to identify the effect of certain policies and decisions on employee satisfaction. It can help you to gauge the effect of executive decisions and to spot areas where staff are becoming disengaged or demoralized. With this knowledge, you can make the necessary changes to remedy the situation. 5. Hire the Best People As well as helping you to retain the best workers, people analytics can be used to help ensure you hire the best people in the first place. With the right analytics program, it’s possible to create a predictive model from the data generated by your best employees. Applying this model during the assessment of potential hires then allows you to leverage the data from your top performers in order to predict who’s statistically most likely to achieve similar results. 6. Save time As anyone who works in HR or recruitment knows, finding, hiring, and training the best talent can take a lot of time. People analytics can save you a significant amount of time by showing you better ways of prioritizing your tasks and ensuring that you’re spending time on the things that actually make a difference. How to Get Started Getting an effective people analytics program going needn’t be complicated. There are plenty of tools out there that put powerful analytics capacity at your fingertips. But before we get on to the software options available, we first need to understand the stages involved. 1. Gather Data The first stage in any people analytics venture will always be to gather the necessary data. If you don’t have an effective data pipeline you will have nothing to run through whichever software you wish to use to gain insights. If it’s performance data you’re after it’s likely that whichever digital tools your workers use already gather this data, or can be programmed to do so. Check what format your data needs to be in before you input it into any software and make sure all your data capture processes are compliant with the relevant privacy laws and your employees’ contracts. Another valuable source of data in the field of HR is employee surveys. Some analytics platforms have this function built-in but it’s also possible to set up your own surveys. There are plenty of processes that you likely already implement that generate useful data too. For example, with people analytics, accident and injury reports can be leveraged to help create a more safe workplace. 2. Build and Apply Models Once you have amassed the required data it’s just a matter of using the right software to generate insights by building both predictive and prescriptive models. Modern analytics techniques mobilize machine learning, artificial intelligence, and various other data science methodologies to create models. A predictive model is one that uses your data to talk you the most statistically likely result given certain known variables. A prescriptive model is one that helps with decision-making. It tells you which course of action out of multiple options is probabilistically the most advantageous according to the desired outcomes. 3. Visualize and Interpret Results One of the biggest advantages of today’s analytics tools is their ability to create meaningful visualizations out of otherwise dense and indecipherable datasets. A good visualization is key to interpreting the results of your analytics in a way that optimizes the labor of your workforce. Getting creative with your data visualization can lead to unexpected insights that the data alone would never reveal if it was left in purely numerical form. 4. Implement Changes Alongside customer experience analytics, people analytics can be one of the biggest ways that Big Data can help to improve your business’s performance. But only if you act upon the insights gained. While prescriptive models will give you tell you directly what the optimal approach to a given challenge is, acting upon the results of predictive models will require you to make further calculations based upon the predictions. Combining predictive and prescriptive analytics is the most advanced way to create insight from your data and then act upon it. What Is an HR dashboard? An HR dashboard is one of the most important tools for organizations looking to leverage the power of people analytics. An HR analytics platform compiles all the known information about your workers in a single place and allows you to run sophisticated data processes from an intuitive dashboard.\ There are many HR dashboards on the market. Some of the most popular include: LIKE.TG Workday Anaplan Bamboo HR OfficeVibe Orgvue Visier People HiBob When deciding which platform is most suitable for your business needs, you should consider which key performance indicators (KPIs) you’ll be monitoring, what kind of data you have available, and what data analysis features you require. People Analytics and Remote Work Whether you work in a hundred-year-old business with thousands of employees or for a start-up with a small intimate team of staff, remote working is a reality for many businesses. It’s also an employment model that is only likely to grow, with many generation Z employees saying that they prefer remote or hybrid working over rigidly location-based office jobs. While there are plenty of businesses such as virtual law firms that now operate entirely without an in-location workforce, the hybrid approach has also proven popular but it comes with its own dilemmas. Businesses that offer a combination of in-office and home working are asking what the correct balance is? When to ask employees to come into a physical location? And whether home working requires or benefits from more flexible work hours? Conclusion Now you know what people analytics is, and how it could help your organization, all that’s left to do is take the leap. Many of the tools and platforms discussed in this blog offer free trials so that you can try out a product or service before you commit to any purchase or subscription. With that in mind, what’s stopping you? Author Bio: Grace Lau - Director of Growth Content, Dialpad Grace Lau is the Director of Growth Content at Dialpad, an AI-powered cloud communication platform enhancing the digital employee experience for better and easier team collaboration. She has over 10 years of experience in content writing and strategy. Currently, she is responsible for leading branded and editorial content strategies, partnering with SEO and Ops teams to build and nurture content. Here is her LinkedIn.

The ways in which the workplace has evolved over the years are vast. The age of information and technology has given rise to paradigm shifts within the workplace itself, transforming the traditional 9-to-5 grind into a more flexible, diverse, agile, and collaborative environment suitable for each individual. Though flexible and remote work arrangements were already in place long before the COVID-19 pandemic, they further changed the workplace as we know it. Organizations worldwide had to reconfigure their overall approaches to prioritize the safety and well-being of their employees. For most, this meant going virtual. Two years later, as economies begin to re-open, companies continue to acclimatize to the permanent structural and cultural changes brought about by the pandemic. Some of these changes were welcome transitions and addressed certain problems already faced by individuals in the workplace. For instance, remote work eliminates the difficulties of long commutes and the individuals’ stress from physically working in a hostile environment. Meanwhile, flexible or hybrid arrangements enable more work-life balance and time with one’s family. However, with the realities of working in the modern age, it is inevitable for individuals to encounter new and existing challenges in the workplace. Here are some of the modern workplace’s most common challenges, along with how both organizations and individuals can overcome them. 1. Increased complexity Increased dependence on technology results in increased complexity in running the business. Companies must use varied software for management, communication, and other functions. While this means that there are more ways to ensure that each part of the organization is performing, it also makes it a more complicated task. This challenge also applies to roles. With more and more organizations following a less traditional hierarchy or structure, individual roles are becoming increasingly complex. This is especially true as companies seek to keep individual functions diverse, sometimes resulting in employees becoming overburdened with responsibilities. It is easy for managers and employees to become overwhelmed with so much to work with. When it comes to technology, it is best to keep things simple. LIKE.TG integrates essential software into a single, powerful system, enabling multitasking functionality while maintaining centralized operations.While innovation is always encouraged, recognizing that experimenting with too many things at a time can end up doing more harm than good. Meanwhile, roles are best kept diverse to nudge individuals toward their best performance. Defining each role’s core responsibilities is crucial to avoid overlapping tasks. In any case, an open line of communication can help reduce and resolve conflict in the workplace. 2. Roadblocks to smooth collaboration As workplaces become more diverse and unconventional, there is an emphasis on communication and effective collaboration. Hybrid and remote arrangements bring about the challenges of varying time zones, technological setbacks, and productivity tracking. However, the other usual challenges are still there in creating an inclusive environment for employees; like cultural differences, lack of morale in the team, and other strains on employee-management relationships. More grave disputes that management should be cautious of include discrimination, harassment, and any form of bullying. Managers should strive to promote equality and fairness in their dealings, whether it be performance assessments, opportunities for advancement, or recruitment—and this includes directly addressing negative attitudes or behaviors. To help individuals in managing stress in the workplace, leaders must make each employee heard. Regularly encourage and welcome a healthy cycle of feedback; employees should feel free not only to air their grievances but also to question what works for the team. This will help keep your employees more engaged and involved and thus result in a more productive, smoothly collaborative workforce. 3. Security With technology evolving at a pace not always easy for organizations to keep up with, it can pose a problem in terms of security. Data protection should be a crucial focus of any modern workplace as security breaches and data loss could significantly put the company at risk.Commonly, a virtual private network (VPN) for businesses would be recommended to protect such data. But protection from those types of threats needs an experienced VPN vendor such as GoodAccess to not only secure your company’s shared cloud data but also seamlessly manage large remote teams wherever they are while encrypting network traffic, thereby reducing risks and costs. People in management roles might not always find it easy to oversee their colleagues and their tasks through various apps and software. Therefore, organizations need to invest in good IT infrastructure, including a reliable backup solution like AWS backup.The management should also keenly collaborate with their IT departments to determine and maintain the technology that brings the organization—and the individual—the most value. Employees must also feel safe enough using their devices meant for work. If it is within the company's budget, it would be best to provide each employee with their own devices so they can easily separate work and personal lives. The organization should also supply other IT-related basics, including a subsidy for fast-performing internet providers, VPNs, and access to necessary software. Data backup is also an essential practice to minimize risk. 4. Shortage of resources An inevitable challenge for any workforce is delivering despite a shortage of resources. Whether this means the organization is low on budget for a particular project or low on talent, it is always more difficult to attain the desired outcomes with these constraints. Unfortunately, it is very much a reality that organizations have to deal with by working with what they’ve got. For projects or tasks, managers need to carefully assess the situation, monitor their existing resources, and map them against the expected productivity. Stretching the available resources doesn’t necessarily mean doing so until you reach a breaking point—instead, it has to do with making decisions on higher priority tasks, close monitoring, and managing expectations. 5. Uncertainty The fear of uncertainty affects all organizations, big and small. In light of recent events, uncertainty has been at an all-time high at organizational and individual levels. The anxiety surrounding what the future holds is perfectly understandable. Businesses might be stable at the moment, but what happens when things turn shaky again? How can each employee be assured of security in their jobs? While there is no way to be assured of what will happen in the future, organizations can take practical steps to ease doubts and manage expectations. Transparency is key—let employees know what’s going on with the business, how it’s performing, and what your goals are. Consult employees for ways the whole team can improve. Highlight everyone’s value while outlining growth opportunities. Most importantly, be human and kind—assure them that periods of uncertainty can be endured together. Try implementing software that will improve your communication and teamwork, ensuring a strong company culture. Further evolving toward the future The modern workplace looks much different from what it was decades ago—and it might even look drastically different a couple of years from now. While the workplace of the future still looks unclear, we can be sure that things are evolving for the better. Challenges like security, increased complexity, a shortage of resources, unsuccessful collaboration, and uncertainty notwithstanding, how the modern workplace will continue to evolve into a more diverse, more open, and better workplace is a promising pursuit for all organizations. Try Workmates Interactive Demo Click trough it yourself withinteractive demo. Try It Now 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!

Today, more and more organizations are expanding their remote teams, and whether due to a pandemic or not, remote work is becoming more popular among companies with physical offices. As a HR manager, I admire you enormously. You're probably doing a lot of things at once: recruiting, forming teams, scheduling shifts, managing people and monitoring tasks, dealing with discipline concerns, and of course, keeping customers pleased. Being a HR manager, the list of tasks that he or she should accomplish is quite difficult. No worries!! The remote team management software brings you the flexibility of monitoring and tracking your productivity. This has become so simple that the HR manager can just stay at home and carry out his duties. Here we have found the 7 best Remote Team management software for your company and teams. LIKE.TG Apploye Brosix Zoom Trello Calendly Dropbox Let us have a descriptive idea about all the 7 best Remote Team Management Software mentioned in the above: Best Remote Team Management Software for HR Managers 1. LIKE.TG LIKE.TG is a cloud-based human resource management (HRM) solution for various industries. LIKE.TG's Onboard Software assists users in managing tasks connected to new recruit onboarding procedures. Your Workforce can be connected and engaged With Just One platform, and that is the LIKE.TG. It offers plans for different business goals and requirements. Key Features With its employee self-service platform, LIKE.TG allows quick and easy onboarding. Users can create communication sequences and detailed email or mobile app notifications for each onboarding stage. Paperless e-sign processes, customized forms and workflows, I-9 and E-Verify, automatic notifications, and progress reports make onboarding easier. Workmates is LIKE.TG's employee experience platform that promotes employee engagement, internal communications, incentives and recognition, and employee advocacy while also helping to improve organizational culture. Workmates is LIKE.TG's employee experience platform that promotes employee engagement, internal communications, incentives and recognition, and employee advocacy while also helping to improve organizational culture. Pros Customer support is very responsive, and they are super responsive. Excellent ability to create complex or simple hierarchical workflow jobs. Smooth adaptability and ease of use. It meets the requirements for basic candidate monitoring and onboarding. Cons Their support team is excellent, but it would be nice to have the required FAQ for users. Needs some refinement as this software is new. Pricing They have three different pricing options if you need a quote from their website. 2. Apploye Apploye is one of the best time tracking softwares on the market, and it's one of a kind in its capacity to have a huge impact on organizations by providing outstanding services. Remote team management is so easy for HR with the help of this software. Apploye has a clean, user-friendly, and attractive interface. It offers time tracking, remote tracking, and field tracking to provide enterprises with comprehensive monitoring capabilities.HR professionals will like the capabilities that Apploye provides because they are available at a lesser cost without sacrificing quality. Key Features You can keep track of every second with the help of an online timesheet, a Pomodoro timer, manual time entry, and idle time detection. The status of your workflow is summarized through versatile and comprehensive reports, as well as an organized dashboard. Project budgeting, client management, team management and task management not only ease your work but also help you track them very easily. Report generation, activity tracking, screenshot, URL tracking round of total monitoring activity during working hours. Pros Apploye is the best choice for time tracking and employee monitoring specifications with comparatively less price. Engagement of the employee increase as it ranks your top-rated employees This software is specially designed for remote teams. Payroll, invoice and budgeting is way better to track financial activities. Cons Apploye offers limited integrations. The iOS app is currently unavailable. (Coming Soon) Pricing Solo: $2/user/month Standard: $2.5/user/month Premium: $3/user/month Elite: $3.5/user/month 3. Brosix Brosix is a private instant messenger that prioritizes security and effective collaboration. Secure communication is even better with Brosix. Managers have full administrative control over their own private instant messaging network, while employees have their team at their fingertips via the Brosix app. It keeps them focused while still keeping their data safe. Key Features Brosix allows you to email files of any size directly, meaning they will not be saved on the cloud. The file or folder is shared between computers, which is the most secure method. Screen Sharing and Screenshot gives the flexibility to track and monitor the team. It has a broadcast message to start any meeting. Pros Brosix is easy to set up and use. Ability to interact rapidly with other offices Because of its simple appearance and flexibility, Brosix is a popular collaboration tool among insurance, financial, healthcare, and IT firms worldwide. Cons If the computer crashes, it sometimes gets goofy after updates (either super tiny or super huge font/icons), and it doesn't preserve any part of ongoing chats to the log file. It's a little antiquated, but the team has kept the complexity to a bare minimum so that communication runs seamlessly, and there's no need for training to get started with the tool. Pricing Startup- It’s free Business- $4/user/month Premium-$6/user/month 4. Zoom Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing software for video conferencing, audio conferencing, webinars, meeting recordings, and live chat. It offers you four distinct categories: Zoom Free, Zoom Pro, Zoom Business, and Zoom Enterprise. Additionally, you can add Zoom Room with those categories, but it will cost some extra charge. Moreover, zoom brings teams together in a smooth and secure video environment to get more done. Key Features Meetings, video conferencing, and messaging ensure that work is completed quickly and efficiently. Strong meeting security, screen sharing, HD video and audio, and a streamlined calendaring system are all available. Call routing, auto attendants, voicemail, and call recording are all available on the Zoom phone. Video webinars, interfaces with Slack, Google Workspace, and other services are available. Pros The freemium has many features used in business, education, administration, and other areas. It's simple to use. The interaction with the phone system is quite beneficial. When inviting guests, you can include a meeting agenda. Cons The free version can't be used on a wide scale, and the paid version is a little pricey. Pricing Basic: Free Pro: $14.99/month Business: $19.99/month Enterprise: $19.99/month 5. Trello Trello enables managers to engage with their employees more effectively. It's the command centre for all of your tasks and tools, displaying status updates, due dates, and allowing you to swiftly communicate with collaborators. Trello is a virtual dashboard where teams can design, order, and prioritize tasks, making it ideal for project management. Key Features Detailed Quick Overviews of Front/Back Cards. Easy, Drag-and-Drop Editing. In-Line Editing. Easy Organization with Labeling, Tags, and Comments. Progress Meter Checklist. Card Records Archive. Easy Upload (Local Devices, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box). Pros Task management, scheduling, labelling, and file sharing are all available features that help you perform your task smoothly. This software is easy to use, especially for new users. It aids in project management as well as internal and external collaboration. Cons The task management system is ineffective, and when the project enters the operational phase, the team's performance suffers. Poorly suited for non-group task management. Pricing Free Standard: $5/user/month Premium: $10/user/month Enterprise: $17.50/user/month 6. Calendly Calendly is your one-stop shop for professionally and efficiently organizing meetings, freeing you from the burden of back-and-forth emails so you can get back to business. It is an appointment scheduling app that you may use without relying on email notifications. It helps groups and individuals organize meetings and appointments. It makes life easier for its customers by allowing them to prioritize their desired appointment time and date. You can also set meeting durations such as 15, 30, or 60 minutes. It is one of the most versatile remote team management software for scheduling and calendaring because of the connectors available. Key Features Appointment scheduling is both automated and real-time. Notification and a minimum of schedule notice are required to minimize last-minute snafus. Day restrictions and buffers allow for the addition of extra events as needed. Team schedules, email and event management, online payment, and booking are just a few of the features available. Pros Easy to set up overall time availability, then synchronization with Office 365 personal outlook calendar makes getting to an appointment easy quick. It's simple to use and share. Direct booking and personalization help to cut down on time spent waiting. Cons Some privacy errors are all too common. Not at all very useful for large companies. Pricing Basic: Free Premium: $10 per user per month Pro: $15 per user per month Enterprise: Contact vendor 7. Dropbox Dropbox is a cloud-based file storage and collaboration software to reduce busy work in the modern workplace. Dropbox is a cloud storage service that lets you save files online and sync them to your devices. It has traditionally been regarded as a consumer-oriented service. However, it is becoming more widely utilized within the company, illustrating the IT consumerization trend. Key Features All files are saved securely, are up to date, and can be accessed from any device. It can send any file, big/small, to everyone even if they don't have any dropbox account. Offers security to information Keep track of file updates, manage projects, and communicate with the team and clients. Pros Dropbox includes many useful features, including the ability to share files. In collabs, it's also simple to see updates from team members. It's one of the best software for syncing, saving, and sharing files. Cons Dropbox has been plagued by performance concerns and a proclivity for slowing down the computers on which it is installed. When synchronizing files, mistakes can occur. It is difficult to post all of the files due to bad internet. Costing is comparatively high. Pricing Personal Plus: $11/month Family: $19.99/month Business Professional : $19.99/month Standard : $15/user/month Advanced : $25/user/month Conclusion So far, we have tried to provide you with the best and most useful software for managing remote teams as a HR. At last, we are going to finish with a quote from Sir Richard Branson, who is the founder of the Virgin group. “Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough, so they don’t want to.” Being a HR manager, you need to take care of your employees' productivity and feelings. However, we tried our best to get you the required remote team management software as a HR manager. Author Bio: Hasan Abir is working as a Growth Marketer at Apploye. He would love to work out of his comfort zone and his passion is for digital marketing.

More businesses than ever are embracing new models of working. In recent years, remote working has become the new normal for many industries, with a significant number of employees working from home. However, remote working requires a solid infrastructure to be viable for employers. Furthermore, it's not an option for many industry sectors.If you're looking to ditch a typical 9-to-5 schedule and offer your employees a more flexible alternative, the 9/80 model is something to consider. Although the 9/80 work schedule involves long working hours, there are guaranteed incentives in the form of additional days off twice a month. When implemented effectively, 9/80 work schedules can boost productivity, improve morale, and provide employees with a healthy work-life balance. 9/80 Work Schedule: How It Works The main aim of a 9/80 work schedule is to improve productivity by encouraging a healthier work-life balance. Traditionally, employees are expected to put in 10 working days over two weeks. In the case of the 9/80 model, employees are instead expected to work just 9 days during the same period. However, this model still demands 80 hours of input during the same two-week period. As such, employers are not sacrificing any costly man-hours. If you're looking to drive employee engagement by offering flexible working alternatives, the 9/80 model is well worth considering. Because the 9/80 arrangement involves abandoning the conventions of the typical 9-to-5 model, employers need to be flexible when it comes to deploying it. The model involves a run of 9-hour shifts split across eight days, with a final 8-hour shift on the ninth day. This final shift is then followed by a Friday off. Instead of a day off, some employees may choose to work two 4-hour shifts rather than take the final Friday off. During 9-hour days, employees are expected to work two 4-hour periods, with an hour-long lunch allowance breaking up the day. During 8-hour days, 30 minutes is usually allotted for lunch breaks. There's no steadfast rule on start and finish times, allowing employers to schedule work hours that best fit the needs of their business. 9/80 Work Schedule Benefits Although some companies may be wary about experimenting with new working arrangements, the 9/80 schedule has several benefits. If you're keen to increase employee productivity, the 9/80 model is certainly worth exploring. Because this model provides employees with an average of two additional days off every month, there's a real incentive to work harder. The additional time away from work commitments also improves employee morale and well-being, making them more likely to return to their desks with renewed vigour and a brighter outlook. With fewer days to work, employees are less likely to experience burnout and suffer stress-related illnesses, resulting in fewer absences and last-minute requests for vacation leave. The 9/80 model is an obvious solution for companies looking to offer better work-life balance to their employees. With guaranteed days off in place, employees can attend to domestic demands and social commitments, without having to adjust office hours. It also makes lengthy commutes far more bearable. This particular benefit means employers can think about casting the net wider when recruiting new talent. Although the main draw of the 9/80 model is the inclusion of an additional day off, employers can be flexible with it. During peak periods, it might make more sense for companies to stagger days off, rather than allowing every employee operating under the 9/80 model to take a Friday off. Employers can also choose to eliminate the full day off approach entirely and instead offer two half-days during any given month. The Downsides of a 9/80 Schedule The 9/80 work schedule has plenty of perks for employees and businesses alike. However, it's not an ideal fit for every industry sector. In certain industries, operational demands simply can't be supported by a workforce that has adopted a 9/80 approach. Another drawback of the 9/80 schedule is the increased workdays it necessitates. Although the lure of an additional day off makes 9/80 working an attractive prospect, many employees may find a longer workday too tiring to maintain over longer periods. You should consider whether your business relies heavily on overtime hours. If your teams are regularly working beyond contracted hours, this trend is unlikely to change after adopting a 9/80 model. Ultimately, if your workforce currently suffers from high instances of burnout and stress-related absences, there's a good chance that adopting the 9/80 model will exacerbate problems, rather than alleviate them. While many companies have embraced the 9/80 model to boost productivity, there's also the chance it can have the opposite effect. Many employers who have introduced the 9/80 model have noted diminished levels of output during the final stretch of long shifts. Output during these final hours should be heavily monitored if you're thinking about trialing 9/80 models within your organization. In many cases, productivity will return to previous levels after a period of adjustment. However, if productivity continues flatlines at less than desirable levels, you may want to abandon your plans of implementing 9/80 working as standard practice. Additional Challenges Posed by 9/80 Working Smaller businesses may find adopting a 9/80 work schedule unfeasible. This is because 9/80 schedules tend to result in significant staffing gaps. Even at the best of times, smaller companies struggle with coverage. If members of your team call in sick or are forced to take unexpected leave, the issue becomes even more significant. If your staffing levels are already stretched thin, now's not the time to think about introducing a 9/80 work schedule. Even if your business is well prepared to accommodate 9/80 working, monitoring output, and keeping track of hours can prove difficult. Payroll changes need to be considered, while new rules for sick days and holiday allowances also need to be considered. Is a 9/80 Schedule Right For You? Before you decide to implement a 9/80 work schedule, you'll need to think about the needs of your business. Furthermore, you'll need to take an honest look at your workforce and determine whether such a dynamic shift in working patterns is viable. The 9/80 model schedule isn't well suited to smaller companies with modest workforces. It also requires considerable monitoring to determine effectiveness. Ultimately, any company interested in implementing the 9/80 model should approach cautiously and consider a trial run before making it a standard business practice. Author Bio: Zoe Dromgoole is the Marketing Executive at Wood Flooring Ireland. Wood Flooring Ireland sell bespoke engineered wood flooring such as herringbone flooring. They don’t currently use the 9/80 work model but do think that it is a fantastic schedule.

Having a dynamic intranet is an important advantage because the parallels between superior employee experiences and business performance are striking. According to Gallup's 2016 Q12 Meta-Analysis Report, companies with highly engaged workforces are 21% more profitable than those with poor engagement levels. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how companies from a variety of industries are using intranets in innovative ways, and why you should consider implementing it. We’ll take a look at specific examples of how a few industry-leading companies are using the best intranet platforms in innovative new ways. Before implementing an intranet of your own, it's important to familiarize yourself with the concept. A corporate intranet is a virtual hub that stores a variety of programs, communication tools, and other collaboration software that is accessed by team members daily. No credit card needed Less than 5 min to set up 7 Examples of How Different Industries Use Intranet You may be saying to yourself, “A corporate intranet sounds great, but how will it fit into my company’s day-to-day activities?” Great question. It can be difficult to visualize exactly how an intranet will play its part in enhancing your company’s culture. That’s why we’ve outlined ways that three different industries can use a corporate intranet to optimize your team’s communication and collaboration. Example 1: Finance Technology Financial technology organizations, especially legacy businesses in desperate need of a culture facelift, can use their intranet’s powerful announcement feature to improve communications and strengthen their corporate culture. Companies can develop a prominent company feed used to manage important messages and encourage their entire workforce to do the same. The intention of this feed is to publish various recognition announcements—such as appreciation posts, automated employee birthday and work anniversary congratulations, and more. This can help drastically improve another employee's engagement-wise serious office environment and guide leadership as they work to create a dynamic culture. Using Workmates’ kudos feature to offer recognition for employees’ hard work or any examples of exemplary behavior is also an excellent way to boost morale. This practice is extremely helpful in showing the entire workforce that the company appreciates their contributions—no matter how small—and how their efforts support larger accomplishments. Example 2: Health Care Healthcare professionals have to work together as a team to provide high-quality care to their patients, but with rotating shift schedules, individual employees’ work can often go unrecognized. It can be extremely valuable for healthcare companies to use their intranets to focus on employee recognition and rewards. Using Workmates’ kudos feature to encourage employees to recognize and reward their peers is an efficient tool to create a collaborative and enthusiastic work culture in hospitals, clinics, and beyond. Employees can publish a post at any time to officially thank any other employee. A reward program where employees can receive gift cards, branded corporate items, or other thank-you mementos can also be created. Even better: List top kudos recipients on a prominent leaderboard within your corporate intranet. This lets them receive even more attention, but it also fosters an ongoing culture where all employees now strive for excellence and higher levels of job performance. Example 3: Commercial Real Estate A commercial real estate company can create an intranet with social feeds and a number of customizable group channels to let each specific team send messages and updates to other departments or the entire company. For example, an employee can post certain announcements to the social feed, including welcoming new hires, sharing employees’ personal events (a new baby!), shoutouts to other teams or employees (like congratulating a real estate agent for closing a deal), office culture updates, and more. This experience makes communication and collaboration fun. Employees can upload pictures from a corporate event and share them with the whole company. They can also create and post surveys and polls—for example, “What type of cake should we get to celebrate Susan’s birthday?” Employees can also post memes and hashtags to their social feeds, all to increase camaraderie, collaboration, and teamwork. The company can even use a powerful analytics dashboard to track active users and the overall engagement level with the intranet over time. Example 4: The Technology Industry One leading technology company uses its intranet to improve communications and strengthen its corporate culture using a powerful company announcement feature.In this case, the company developed a prominent company feed that it used to manage important messages and encourage the entire workforce to do the same. This feed publishes various recognition announcements, such as appreciation posts, automated birthday and work anniversary congratulations, and more.The company also used a kudos feature to offer recognition for employees’ hard work or any examples of exemplary behavior. All of this has been extremely helpful in showing the entire workforce that the company appreciates their contributions—no matter how small—and how they support larger accomplishments. Example 5: Background Screening Services Another company, one that provides background screening services, chose to use its intranet site as a full-featured content management system (CMS). This company used its corporate intranet as a better way to upload and store documents, which gave employees a much better way to share documents, track activity, and access important information—from any device at any time. Additionally, this company created a new internal help center for the HR department, which was accessible to all employees. This helped workers know exactly where they should start if they had questions or issues, gave them self-service access to critical forms and documents, and eliminated a lot of confusion. It also saves a significant amount of time over the company’s previous system where employees would call or email requests for help—and get frustrated when they didn’t know where they stood. Example 6: Fast Casual Dining As the name implies, fast casual restaurants move quickly. That means there’s no time to waste when it comes to scheduling shifts. It also means that employees, like servers and cooks, may feel underappreciated. A successful company intranet can improve employee communication and even inspire recruiting efforts. A chain restaurant can use its intranet to share announcements with specific updates. For example, an announcement can let employees know they can pick up shifts at another local location. This saves the restaurant from being short-staffed and helps employees earn more. Announcements can even highlight staff achievements by individual staff, like employee of the month, to improve engagement. Restaurants can also make their employees their best advocates. Using a company intranet, restaurant chains can create pre-written, approved posts designed for employees to share on their personal social media accounts, including job openings. About half of businesses say their top-quality hires come from referrals, and a positive post on social media can get those referrals moving. Example 7: Retail Retailers need to make the customer shopping experience as pleasant as possible. A company intranet site can help make sure that employees have the training and seamless technology to make that happen. A company can create an extensive training site to make sure every employee has the information they need in one easily accessible place. A comprehensive training site also makes sure that each employee is given standardized training so everyone is prepared for the job. And if they have questions long after onboarding, employees can always refer back to the training site. The retailer can also develop an interactive shift-swapping app so employees can easily trade shifts — without bothering busy supervisors. Employees with more connections are happier, and so are customers at a fully-staffed store. Here Are Some Ways To Use the Internet in Your Business: An intranet can transform your business operations by centralizing communication, enhancing collaboration, and streamlining administrative tasks. Leveraging this powerful tool can boost productivity, engagement, and efficiency across your organization. Here are some practical ways to use the intranet in your business: Internal Communications: Share company news, updates, and announcements. Create newsletters or bulletins to keep employees informed. Collaboration Tools: Host project spaces, forums, and discussion boards for teams to collaborate on tasks and share documents. Document Management: Centralize documents, policies, and procedures for easy access and version control. Training and Development: Offer online training courses, webinars, or resources for employee skill development. Employee Directory: Maintain an updated directory with contact information and organizational charts. Feedback and Surveys: Conduct employee surveys, feedback forms, or suggestion boxes to gather insights and improve processes. Social Features: Implement social networking features for employees to connect, share ideas, and build a sense of community. Resource Sharing: Provide access to tools, templates, and resources that employees may need to perform their roles effectively. Corporate Culture Promotion: Showcase company culture, values, and achievements through stories, photos, and videos. Why Should You Consider Using a Social Intranet? Facilitating seamless communication among remote workers and fostering a culture of knowledge sharing and innovation, social intranets offer vast and transformative benefits. Using a social intranet in today's digital world can propel your business forward. A modern-day social intranet can benefit businesses in several ways: Enhanced Communication: A report from Gitnux found that 63% of organizations use an intranet to enhance internal communication. Social intranets provide a platform for seamless communication among employees, departments, and teams. This can improve collaboration, information sharing, and problem-solving across the organization. Increased Employee Engagement: By incorporating social features such as likes, comments, and sharing, social intranets promote interaction and engagement among employees. Gitnux report shows that 74% of intranet users access their intranet daily, and the shows that intranet can foster a sense of community and belonging, leading to higher employee morale and productivity. Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration: Social intranets facilitate the sharing of knowledge and best practices among employees, through features like forums and discussion boards. According to Webinar Care, 85% of employees say they’re most motivated when management offers regular updates on company news, and 92% of businesses with intranets report improved collaboration. Remote Work Enablement: With the rise of remote work, social intranets provide a central hub for remote employees to connect, collaborate, and stay informed. 60% of companies find employee engagement increases through intranet use and virtual workspaces enable seamless communication and collaboration regardless of physical location. Streamlined Processes and Workflows: Social intranets often integrate with other business tools and systems, such as project management software, document management systems, and CRM platforms. Intranets improve workflow efficiency by 23% by streamlining processes and workflows as well as reducing manual tasks. Employee Recognition and Feedback: Social intranets can incorporate features for recognizing and rewarding employees for their achievements and contributions. Additionally, they provide a platform for gathering feedback and suggestions from employees, helping to improve employee engagement and satisfaction. Exploding Topics found that employees who receive recognition from management are 69% more likely to do better work and that 96% of employees say getting regular feedback is a good thing Centralized Information Hub: Social intranets serve as a centralized repository of information, policies, documents, and files shared by the company. This ensures that employees have access to the latest information they need to perform their jobs effectively, reducing confusion and enhancing productivity by 20 - 25%. Workmates: A Comprehensive Intranet Solution Today, LIKE.TG’s Workmates solution delivers all of these capabilities and more. With dynamic features like "kudos" and a variety of company communication tools, don’t be surprised when your employees’ productivity, happiness, and morale increase significantly once you implement a corporate intranet for your team to collaborate in a user-friendly, efficient way. To see how Workmates is revolutionizing the way companies use intranets, request a free, no-obligation Workmates demo today! Try Workmates Interactive Demo Click through it yourself withinteractive demo. Try It Now Author Bio:This article is written by a marketing team member at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications engagement, and rewards recognition. Our user-friendly software increases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk.

What is one employee recognition reward that should be avoided? To help you discover which employee recognition awards to avoid, we asked business leaders and HR managers this question for their best insights. From repurposing existing rewards to company-branded rewards, there are several employee recognition awards that should be avoided to make employees feel valued and excited about receiving recognition. Here are nine employee recognition rewards to Avoid: Avoid Repurposing Existing Bonuses and Rewards Avoid Showing Bad Examples Avoid Delayed Recognition Avoid MVP Awards Avoid Focusing Only On Cash Rewards Avoid Gift Baskets Avoid Awards That Can’t be Afforded to All Avoid the Meaningless ‘Employee of the Month’ Program Avoid Company-Branded Rewards 1. Avoid Repurposing Existing Bonuses and Rewards When introducing employee recognition programs, avoid restructuring existing reward systems. For example, by announcing that moving forward the annual bonus will be awarded only to employees of the month instead of the entire team. Limiting or removing existing awards is likely to feel like a punishment or a slight to staff, and team members may feel resentful at having to prove they deserve a perk that was previously promised. Not to mention, suddenly changing the terms of an award can destroy trust. It is better to introduce a new incentive entirely so that employees feel that they have something to gain rather than something to avoid losing. Michael Alexis, TeamBuilding 2. Avoid Showing Bad Examples Never involve pitting employees against each other or singling out somebody as a bad example to show the good. This breeds an untrusting and toxic atmosphere, but it also takes the joy of being recognized away from your star employee. Nobody wants to only be seen as doing well in comparison to somebody who isn't.It's easy to cross over the fine line between healthy competition and only valuing success when it's in direct comparison with failure. Your employees deserve to be recognized solely for their achievements, and there is no place for others' shortfalls within this particular discussion. Antreas Koutis, Financer HR mistakes impact your entire organization. Learn how to avoid the 12 most common mistakes with our free ebook. Download now 3. Avoid Delayed Recognition The majority of employees don't get recognized even once a month according to a Gallup poll. Recognition is most effective when the accomplishment or contribution is still current and fresh. Rewarding employees, quarterly makes some impact, but it fails to make any positive impact throughout the weeks between the contribution and its award or recognition. If you reward employees in a timely manner the accolade becomes much more significant and effective. People are more satisfied and more fulfilled when they earn their rewards. Stewart McGrenary, Freedom Mobiles 4. Avoid MVP Awards MVP Awards have often been the cornerstone of employee recognition programs. Employee sentiment has drastically changed though and team members want to be recognized for their day-to-day efforts at work. They're not excited about potentially winning a quarterly MVP award. Instead of choosing only one MVP from your team, find ways to reward people consistently. Even if the reward is small, the power of frequent recognition will create more cultural benefit than an MVP award they may or may never win. Logan Mallory, Motivosity Introduction to Conflict in the Workplace(and How it Erodes Productivity Culture) Download the Ebook Now 5. Avoid Focus Only On Cash Rewards A major mistake many companies make is focusing only on monetary rewards without considering employees' feedback. This approach may cause employees to leave when they're approached by other companies that are willing to offer them benefits that they truly desire. To ensure you're giving the right rewards to your employees, businesses could distribute employee surveys or polls to determine the best benefits for your modern workforce. An anonymous survey can help employees voice out their honest suggestions. This way, you can offer decent rewards that your team actually wants -- such as generous time-off, food vouchers, or a simple public appreciation. This will also give them a reason to be more engaged at work and stay for the long term. Always remember that an effective recognition program could enhance employees' morale which can lead to higher productivity and business growth. That's why it's crucial to consider your employees' interests and prioritize their well-being. Suki Bajaj, QuickHR 6. Avoid Gift Baskets Gift baskets are one employee recognition reward that should be avoided. This is because they tend to be very expensive and can be quite impersonal. Additionally, gift baskets often contain foods that many people either don't like or are allergic to. Typically people end up giving away the contents that they wouldn't ever use. Avoid gift baskets as rewards as much as possible. Claire Westbrook, LSAT Prep Hero 7. Avoid Awards That Can’t be Afforded for All There are certain rules I’m sticking to when rewarding an employee - never reward an employee with something you can not afford to reward all your employees. Everybody from your team should have the chance to get that reward at some point or at least an equivalent one. Otherwise, the reward may turn into jealousy and avoidance from his/her co-workers due to the fact the rewarded employee shares their position but is treated differently. Such a reward may be a parking space or a new office space, again - something most companies can not afford to give to all their employees. For occasions when an employee is being rewarded I would rather prefer giving a cash reward - a thing everyone would enjoy, a paid day off - a thing everybody needs, especially after a great work done, or an achievement certificate - a thing that may be useful in the future for finding a new job and that lasts forever. Stefan Chekanov, Brosix 8. Avoid the Meaningless ‘Employee of the Month’ Program Having worked at several companies, some in which I assisted in the HR department, I have yet to witness a successful Employee of the Month program.Team members end up viewing this by-the-numbers program as a meaningless gesture. Some come to resent it. There are several reasons for this, including the perception that employees are picked at random to "fill the space" or that management pets are selected. And the "rewards" -- that I've seen range from a better parking space for one month, to a specific-store gift card, to a photo and plaque hanging in the office -- are of little impact, and even insulting when the workforce includes remote workers. The better option is to recognize employees when it is results-driven, not date-driven, and to provide rewards that actually incentivize team members. For example, as a team lead at ExpertInsuranceReviews.com, our team members are recognized whenever they go above and beyond, and they are rewarded with micro-bonuses for their efforts. Karen Condor, ExpertInsuranceReviews.com 9. Avoid Company-Branded Rewards Companies need to ditch giving company-branded rewards out for recognition. These items should certainly be embedded in our employee lifecycle but not as a reward. Getting a company logo on a mug at 2 years of service is uninspiring. Getting a company donation made in my name to the charity of my choice for 2 years of service is personalized to what I care about. We don't need another logoed item filling our storage or even trash cans as a reward that keeps us feeling unseen. Companies need to focus on the whole employee- what do they care about, what are their likes outside of work and what matters to them. If they care about family, don't be afraid to give extra PTO days as a reward, if they care about charity, give in their name, cookies - yes please! the list goes on. However, take those tacky logo post-its or stress balls out of the rotation and place them in your onboarding process where they belong. Kelly Loudermilk, BuildHR, Inc. Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is dedicated to providing powerful solutions for your HR teams and creating an exceptional employee experience. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, onboarding, and to save you valuable time!

Your employees are your greatest asset. They play a pivotal role in the success of your company. As with any other valuable asset, you should nurture and protect them. Bob Nelson, PhD, a motivational speaker and best-selling author once said, "Take time to appreciate employees and they will reciprocate in a thousand ways." This reciprocation includes higher productivity and greater loyalty. According to a survey from Great Place to Work, 63% of employees who were regularly recognized indicated they would be unlikely to leave their job. Recognition also increased productivity, employee engagement, and performance by 14%. Wondering where to start? Or what an effective employee recognition program would entail? Read on to find out more. Overview of Employee Recognition When employees do great work, they deserve to be appreciated for their efforts. Employee recognition is a way to acknowledge the exceptional work of members of your staff: Quality of work Initiative Attitude Personal growth Leadership skills Problem-solving Adaptability One way to do this is through an employee recognition program, a structured company initiative that rewards employees on their: Individual achievements Work anniversaries Milestones Contributions Performance achievements Your recognition program should align with your company's mission, vision, and values. This helps reinforce the company culture you've created. Based on your values, this may be a culture of excellence, success, honesty, and teamwork (see more about company culture software here). Your employees should have a clear idea of their individual goals and how this affects company goals, ideally starting at the time of onboarding. Periodic positive reinforcement and constructive feedback helps them strive toward attaining them, promoting a culture of success and continuous self-improvement. Benefits of Employee Recognition Employee recognition is a win-win situation for both employers and employees. For employees, it fosters pride in their work and gives them a reason to keep on putting forth their best. This increases their level of productivity and sense of loyalty. An employee who trusts their organization is more inclined to contribute to company goals. They look at it as a team effort. They know they have an employer that cares about their welfare as much as the bottom line. In fact, about 90% of employees who received recognition trusted their bosses more as a result, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), while only 48% of employees who didn't receive recognition trusted their leaders. The result? Companies with highly engaged workforces are 21% more profitable. Conversely, an employee that resigns because they're unhappy can cost you a lot. It costs just over $4,000 to hire a new employee and an additional $1,000 to onboard them. That's roughly $5,000 for every new employee you hire, according to the SHRM. Fortunately, recognition usually has a rippling effect: It encourages other employees to work together to achieve individual and company goals. Plus, rewarding employees is an effective way to increase productivity, especially if you’re working toward sales goals. Other benefits include: Increasing employee engagement Enhancing company culture Strengthening work relationships Boosting customer service Increasing profitability Increasing employee retention, particularly of top-talent Improving job satisfaction Reducing staff sick days Lowering stress levels at work Inspiring other companies Workmates Self-Guided Tour We’ll show you how Workmates can engage everyone in your organization, recognize their milestones, and drive productivity to new heights. Start Now How to Recognize Your Employees Traditionally, employee recognition is top-down. A manager or supervisor acknowledges the great performance of an employee. It can also involve staff recognition where a team lead recognizes the stellar performance of his/her team or workgroup. You can also expand this to include peer-to-peer recognition as well. This allows co-workers or teammates to recognize each other. Ideally, recognition should involve all the above. However, regardless of the type of recognition in the workplace and whether it’s private, public, or anonymous, it should have the following criteria: Ample resources committed Straightforward and easily understood by all involved Aligned with your company's mission, vision, and values Rewards commensurate with the achievements Take place soon after the employee attains the achievement Well-executed Continuously evaluated for relevance Clear communication of the program is also important. You should introduce new hires to your recognition program during employee onboarding. Managers can then reinforce the program's elements and clarify any uncertainty. Most importantly, an employee recognition program should never be static. It should evolve as both internal and external changes take place. Don't be afraid to get input. Employee surveys are a great way to do that. You can alter your program based on their feedback. For example, whether an employee prefers to be recognized privately or publicly. It’s also important to find out what type of work employees wish to be rewarded for. Do they want to be celebrated for doing a great job on a project or for achieving years of service to the company? If you’ve already implemented a rewards system into your company, see how your employees react when they are recognized. If there is a lukewarm reaction, then you’ll need to tailor your employee recognition program to achieve optimal benefits. Even simple acts of recognition can improve employee morale. This can include expressing heartfelt thanks or apologizing for any miscommunication. Non-work-related gestures also go a long way. Ask a new mother how she is coping with being away from her newborn. Find out how your new employee is adjusting after moving to a new city. Let them suggest ways that you can help with the transition. The key to successful employee recognition is to be authentic. Genuine appreciation efforts are more likely to be welcomed by your staff. All these gestures foster a caring work environment. It's one that any employee will enjoy being a part of. It will make them less likely to leave. “Our staff has praised the increased communication level Workmates delivers. We use it to communicate important project matters and give staff specific ‘kudos’ or even recognize their birthdays. More importantly, we use Workmates to clarify important project details that needed rapid dissemination among the entire team.” Christopher Baggott Chief Executive Officerator of Medlinks Cost Containment, Inc. and Medlinks Staffing, LLC. Learn More Examples of Employee Recognition Understanding what type of recognition employees want can be a challenge. After all, there’s no one right answer to this question. In general, there are several ways to show your appreciation. We’ve outlined a few of them below. Remember, the better you know your staff, the better chance you have of rewarding them. Bonuses: Monetary rewards can be a great incentive. However, you should tie them to specific performance measurements. Care Package: This can include gift certificates, snacks, games, and a handwritten note from you. It’s even better if the items reflect their personality and interests. Appreciation Days or Events: More formal programs can highlight an employee for a month or quarter. Public Acknowledgement: This can be as simple as a company- or department-wide email, or something more involved like a trophy, plaque, or digital photo display. However, be careful: Some members of staff shy away from public recognition, while others bask in it. Performance Feedback: Giving regular feedback on your employees’ performance helps to boost their confidence. You can deliver individual feedback on a one-to-one level or hold team meetings to offer performance feedback on team projects. Social Media Shout-Outs: Providing shout-outs on your social media platforms is a great way to recognize employees in a public manner. Rewards Platform: You could also create a rewards marketplace where top-performing employees can gain gift cards or subscriptions to magazines or media. Workmates has an integrated newsfeed where the kudo badges are shown and employees can exchange the points for rewards. Coworker Recognition Program: Implement a program that allows peer-to-peer recognition. The recognition doesn't even have to be work-related. It could be something a fellow employee did to get them through a difficult day. Extra Time Off: This could involve giving an employee the day off on their birthday or giving an extended paid holiday over Christmas and New Year. Alternatively, you could offer staff extra paid hours off for achieving specific milestones. Professional Development: Provide professional development, including workshops, training programs, free books and their own training courses. Small Gesture: Gift a bouquet of flowers, offer book tokens, send a thank you note/card, buy a box of chocolates or buy a gift card. Wellness Programs: Providing free gym time boosts employee wellness, as well as productivity levels. It’s a great way to lower stress and anxiety and promote a healthy work-life balance for your employees. Lunch or Dinner: Taking your employees out for lunch or dinner can create some memorable moments for your team. For shyer employees, a one-on-one lunch is a perfect way to say thank you. Make it about them by choosing a location they enjoy. Team Happy Hour: Going for team drinks at the end of the week is a popular way to show your appreciation. Offer to purchase the first round of drinks or plan drinks around a pub event, such as quiz night or karaoke. It’s a great bonding exercise! Team-Building Activity: Paintballing, kayaking, river rafting, rock climbing or other sports are events that show that you value your employees alongside wanting to build relationships between them. Virtual team-building activities are a good way to include and recognize remote employees. Outdoor Activity: Rewarding employees with outdoor activity provides a change of scenery from the four walls of the office and allows employees to engage with each other in another environment. Donating: Find out if an employee would appreciate you donating to a non-profit instead of any monetary reward. This will send the message that you're interested in the things they care about and show that you are willing to help make a difference. Try Workmates Interactive Demo Click through it yourself withinteractive demo. Try It Now Author Bio: Auria Heanley is co-founder of Oriel Partners, a boutique PA and administrative recruitment consultancy based in Central London. She is extremely passionate about providing the highest quality of service to both clients and candidates. Oriel Partners’ clients range from global multinationals to small boutique firms, all requiring the same personal service and high-caliber support

Today, organizations depend on the commitment and engagement of their teams to thrive more than ever. A fully engaged workforce can take the company to unprecedented levels by boosting productivity, limiting employee turnover, supporting the company’s strategy, and lifting the employer’s brand. Recent reports indicate that 60% of employees are not engaged, 15% are actively disengaged at work and only 25% are actively engaged. As a result, leaders should strive to improve employee engagement at all costs and settle for nothing less than a highly engaged workforce. Sadly, achieving this is easier said than done, whether in a corporation or a nonprofit organization. It requires a laid-out strategy to succeed. Here are a few recommendations for bolstering employee engagement in an organization. 1. Nonprofit executive search There are several ingredients to successful nonprofit organizations, but strong leadership often gets underestimated. Nonprofit executive search concerns the organization board’s efforts to identify and attract competent top-level leadership. Usually, it involves the recruiting activities of defining the core responsibilities of the leader, formulating the job description, identifying the qualifications for the role, attracting a pool of candidates, and matching the candidates’ qualifications. In addition, organizations can conduct the executive search themselves or hire a professional executive search firm for assistance. Providing exemplary leadership plays a critical role in enhancing employee engagement by integrating engagement drivers like articulating the vision and providing support. In addition, it goes beyond the organization’s short-term goals because good leaders help make employees satisfied with their jobs, more committed, and more confident about the nonprofit’s future. Leaders need to demonstrate to their teams that they are the most engaged people to provide a shining example. However, many leaders focus mainly on employee improvement and forget the critical area of increasing their performance. As a result, these leaders do not portray the same level of enthusiasm they expect from the team. Great leaders will know there is a need to review their performance constantly. When it comes to engagement, they need to reflect the standards they expect from the workforce. 2. Set realistic goals Every organization has a set of objectives the team wants to achieve within specified timelines. The goals increase productivity and encourage employees to commit to achieving them. However, many nonprofit employees do not love their quantitative nature, and often, even the most productive employees dread performance reviews. Leaders can change the general feel about performance measurements by changing their organizational goals approach. But first, every leader must understand that rigid and unrealistic goals are more likely to demoralize employees and reduce productivity while leading to higher turnover. They can engage their teams in the goal-setting process. The goals directly affect the employees, so engaging them in the entire process makes much sense. Leaders should take charge and lead the team in developing specific, measurable, actionable, result-oriented, and time-conscious goals. That way, they increase the likelihood of achieving them and bring a sense of ownership and commitment to the plans. Commitment is incredibly high when employees’ individual goals link to the organization’s bigger picture. When they can directly see the impacts of their performance on organizational objectives, this encourages them to perform better and become more accountable for their progress. Also, they can constantly review the goals based on actual seasons. It should not mean that the organization’s targets will always be flexible, but revisiting the objectives and making adjustments are necessary as the realities of events and needs change. 3.Encourage interaction among employees While it can be difficult for leaders to make friends with their employees, creating an organizational culture that encourages healthy interpersonal interactions among teams is still helpful. These exchanges can include the leaders, workers, and even the public. Good personal interactions improve employees’ morale by bringing positive feelings, job satisfaction, increased productivity, and the public can also develop positive attitudes towards the organization. Leaders need to understand that employees can recognize when leadership cares about them and understands their interests, challenges, and hopes. For example, when employees know the leader cares about their wellbeing, they may open up about their challenges and become more caring for other colleagues. Leaders can also encourage positive employee interactions by pairing workers with different demographics to collaborate on projects and encourage cross-team collaboration. Open relations with the team members will also help the leader identify potential issues before they become significant and impactful. At the same time, these consultations can allow employees to open up and help each other and promote positive relationships. 4. Provide regular constructive feedback Most workers crave feedback after they lead an event or accomplish an important task, and the leader’s response significantly affects their engagement level. Positive feedback is more desirable and is most likely to impact positively. On the other hand, negative feedback is also essential but may not inspire the employee. Even leaders tend to feel some discomfort and awkwardness when giving negative feedback. In any case, leaders need to learn to give constructive feedback to help improve employee performance. Constructive feedback falls between negative and positive feedback, and is meant to correct, inspire, and lead to positive change. When giving constructive feedback, leaders can start by commending positive behavior or work and then point out problematic issues they want to be changed. They can then recommend some tips that can help the employee improve next time. Typically, the feedback is corrective and future-oriented and helps to motivate continuous learning and positive change. 5. Learn to honor individual differences People differ in many aspects, so it may not be helpful to adopt any one-size-fits-all solutions and policies in an organization. Instead, leaders need to understand employee differences in terms of their age, gender, religion, race, departments they work in, opinions, level of education, and preferences, to name just a few areas. Leaders of smaller organizations should know each employee personally and professionally to help them better manage the uniqueness of their team makeup. That way, it becomes possible to integrate the differences in decision-making, allowing every team member and their opinion to be valued. That feeling paves the way for higher employee engagement and better performance. For larger organizations, this approach can be used at a division level. 6. Build trust within teams Great leaders know that a culture of trust is critical for organizational success. Employees ought to trust each other and their organization, and the employer also needs to reciprocate with trust. However, while most leaders understand its importance, some struggle to foster it effectively. Good communication is an effective way of building trust. In organizations where employees and leaders communicate well, these teams are likely to be more cooperative and effective. In addition, employees with stronger relationships have a greater awareness of and trust each other. Leaders who actively communicate with workers show they care about them and will listen to them. Managers who are honest and fair in their dealings and hold workers accountable with the same criteria can instill trust in their teams. Instead of using punitive programs, leaders who promote moral standards will grow a healthier organization. Final Thoughts For employee engagement, exceptional leaders develop exceptional workers, and that’s why the executive search comes first. A good leader has critical goals in mind and knows that the attainment of the objectives depends heavily on employee cooperation. As a result, the leader who engages the team in every step and helps them achieve their targets will help the organization succeed. In addition, good leaders communicate the desired outcomes well and demonstrate trust in their employees by assigning roles and empowering them to achieve those outcomes. A leader who follows this approach can more easily keep teams be productive and engaged. Author Bio: Since 1997 David Hutchinson, a nonprofit executive recruiter at Cause Leadership, has successfully placed senior-level candidates with a broad spectrum of organizations in the charitable sector. He also has a great interest in helping charitable organizations diversify, become younger in their leadership, and better represent their own clients.

After leaving an hour-long meeting, how often have you heard people say, "That could have been an email," after leaving an hour-long meeting? Employees despite being squandered their time. With limited hours and too much work, ineffective meetings cause employees to become more stressed and irritated. The reality is that nobody wants to sit through a meeting that accomplishes nothing. Meetings, on the other hand, aren't all unpleasant. Face-to-face interaction boosts creativity, encourages teamwork, and can help teams develop solutions that they would not have come up with on their own. Unfortunately, meeting expenses account for a little over 1% of total revenue for most businesses. So, how do you prepare for a productive meeting? Image source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/group-of-people-on-conference-room-1181396/ A primary focus is ensuring that everyone touched by the problem has a voice and is actively engaged in the process. This ensures that everyone has an excellent time at the meeting and has diverse viewpoints in your discussions and conclusions. In addition, everyone should feel heard, understood, and optimistic about the group and any plans or decisions you've made during a meeting. Get prepared before your meeting Meetings are commonplace in the workplace. However, unlike a trade fair or a teambuilding activity, a meeting is a generic term that may describe any gathering of individuals. What distinguishes a meeting from an event? Rectangles and squares are similar to meetings and events. However, not all meetings are events, and not all events are meetings. Meetings are usually held for educational or business purposes, and the magnitude and sense of gatherings might vary. Meetings are held to communicate information, whether for business or education. For example, a new venture, a project update, or HR training could all be on the cards. The most efficient approach to achieving a common goal is to gather, whether digitally or in person, a meeting is held. Take a look at the video hosting sites and search the information about your meeting's main topic, gathering versatile information as much as possible, which will help you in the planning process. Whether it’s a sales pitch meeting for a series of latest technology trends or an HR meeting for new recruitments, pay close attention to the planning process. Every meeting starts with a vision, but to analyze costs and make efficient planning decisions, you'll need to translate your vision into words and statistics. So start with the fundamentals of planning, such as who, what, when, where, and why. Image source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/colleagues-working-together-5676679/ Open a document that is available to the entire team and allows each member to view the others and the broader picture. Next, make a list of the essential tasks first, and then fill them out as much as possible in individual stages. In the planning process, it's critical to specify the timetable and priorities. The gathering's goal needs to be highly explicit. For example, if it's a business meeting, the items on the agenda that will be discussed must be evident. After everything has been organized, the next step is to choose a location for the meeting. It is not an easy undertaking when planning meetings for a large group of people. If the meeting is held remotely, focus on technical issues that may arise, create solid passwords if there’s a need for a signup, and cancel background noise. If your company holds many meetings requiring selecting locations, scheduling travel, and managing food and beverages across multiple offices, streamlining your meeting process can be a good idea to streamline your meeting process. “Standardizing a meeting program allows you to keep track of meeting activities, automate sourcing and budgeting to save time, and improve compliance and efficiency by using standard methods,” says Craig Anderson, Founder of Express Dentist. Six steps to successfully organize productive meetings Meetings are essential for several good reasons. First, because there is a set time for communication, meetings help build stronger team relationships. Whether you’re selling online courses or launching the latest gadget, you will need to organize a meeting to deal with its proceedings. Any major company decisions should always be discussed face-to-face. Then, instead of using a video call, you give the decision and the people involved the time and respect required to resolve it. Successful meeting planning can be complex, but it can make a huge difference once accomplished. Here are a few steps to successfully organize productive meetings. 1. Set the purpose and goals of your meeting Setting a meeting goal may appear simple, but there's much more to it than that. Setting meeting objectives in advance to work toward the time given for the meeting is critical to running and participating in an effective meeting. Meeting objectives direct your discussions to stay on track, on the subject, and as productive as possible. Whether you have a few meeting objectives in mind or a significant decision, it's critical to be organized, prepared, and adhere to your plan using a collaborative agenda template. Consider sharing your meeting goals with attendees in your informational or even welcome emails if they are new. This way, they will feel more engaged in the meeting and show more interest. Meeting objectives are essentially the outcomes you wish to achieve by the end of the meeting. You can have numerous minor meeting objectives or a primary aim, depending on the nature of the project you and your team are working on. Joey Sasson, Vice President of Sales Logistics at Moving APT, says “Your meeting objectives should be clearly stated in your schedule so that you may plan all of the procedures necessary to achieve one or more goals by the end of your team meeting.” Unfortunately, if your team isn't dedicated to sticking to a meeting agenda, the meeting will not go well. So make sure you seek your team members' opinions and that their voices are heard before you decide the topics you'll be covering to fulfill your meeting goal(s). Setting at least one goal for each meeting is critical because failing to do so may cause you to lose focus. In addition, your team members and you are likely to hold opposing viewpoints on the most vital or pressing issues to solve. This is why planning ahead of time to create a collaborative agenda or soliciting suggestions is critical. For example, if the meeting is about business competitions, you’ll have to be ready with all the relevant objectives and feature questions such as “Who are they,” “What are their strengths and weaknesses,” etc. It's crucial to know what attendees think is significant to bring up and that their opinions are taken into account because there may be concerns or points of interest that you weren't aware of otherwise. Furthermore, having a common goal will draw you and your team closer together as you strive for success. Here are some common and significant types of meeting goals to be aware of when planning and implementing critical corporate goals: - Problem-solving - Adjustments and retrospection - Planning - Decision-making - Getting work done - Relationship and culture-building - Sharing feedback or reviewing work “Setting defined meeting goals will make your team feel more driven to work together to achieve collective success if your team is goal-oriented,” notes Jonathan Ben Zvi, CEO of All Forward. In addition, understanding the various sorts of meeting objectives will enable you to customize how you set meeting goals to the purpose of your discussion. After the meeting, make sure you go through your results to see what you've accomplished. Then, consider why you haven't been able to fulfill the meeting target you set for yourself. For example, was the meeting's purpose well-defined? 2. Plan an agenda beforehand Arrive with a positive mindset. Encourage everyone to participate. Start an online timer and watch the time to ensure that the meeting ends on schedule. While such abilities are helpful once you're in the room, the seeds of highly productive meetings are planted well before the meeting date, even before the invitations are sent out. It all starts with a well-planned meeting agenda. Great meetings take place because they are required to achieve an important goal. Before a leader can select who should attend a meeting and how it should be run, specify the meeting's purpose. Meeting agendas serve as a tool for team preparation before the meeting and a guide throughout it. An Agenda Meeting goals and conversation topics are clearly stated in a compelling meeting agenda. It is written to assist team members before, during, and after the meeting while delivering all the required information to ensure success. An agenda is a listing of meeting activities and conversations that will be addressed in your meeting. It is vital to work that out before the meeting begins. They're organized logically, usually as a list or a group of bullet points. You should thoroughly plan an All-Hands gathering to optimize the team's time together, whereas a brief one-topic huddle may require no plan. On the other hand, meeting notes often start with the schedule and fill in the blanks with further information about what happened during the meeting, such as decisions and future steps. A plan could include a question to be answered, for example, "Discussion: Should we postpone our team-wide retreat until 2022?" Creating a meeting agenda The first step in building an effective meeting plan is deciding on the type of document to utilize. This determines how simple it will be for meeting participants to develop, distribute, and refer to your schedule. You can format your agenda in a variety of ways, including: - Word document - Google Doc - PDF - Cold emails Consider whether anyone else will need to add to the agenda or have the opportunity to remark on it. If that's the case, sending the schedule will cause tension; therefore, a more collaborative approach will be beneficial. Also, if you think of using something fun, such as the “best I can do is meme,” then use that skill to create a meme relevant and relatable to the situation and present it as an icebreaker at the beginning. For instance, you could wish to create a lovely agenda PDF to print before a meeting. However, if you choose this structure, it will be difficult or impossible for others to make agenda changes or fill in their parts with greater detail if they give a presentation at your meeting. As a result, a shared document is frequently preferred. Pro-tip Early agenda drafting provides several advantages, including reducing meeting goals, which helps determine who needs to be there and predicts a reasonable meeting length for the conversation topics included. In addition, when you outline a meeting before sending out invitations, you're more likely to have people arrive prepared because they'll know what's on the agenda. Finally, it's essential to plan everything, whether you need to sign a shareholders’ agreement during the business meeting or make small fundraising while meeting attendees. In most cases, imposing meeting goals and conversation topics on your attendees on the day of the meeting is counterproductive. For weekly meetings with low-stakes decision-making objectives, this might work. However, a better strategy is to develop the practice of sharing well-thought-out meeting agendas that allow attendees to offer revisions. When schedules are transferred, and participants may add to them, they become more powerful. Whether a vital piece of information needs to be provided to inform the meeting, additional time must be allotted to a topic that a team member believes is more complex than it appears. Allowing early attendee engagement builds a strong foundation and gives attendees ownership. Furthermore, planning a schedule gives the meeting host plenty of time to arrange their thoughts and goals and ensure that nothing crucial is left off the agenda on the meeting day. 3. Get attendees prepared for your meeting Because most individuals are unprepared, most meetings are a disaster. They haven't considered why the meeting is taking place or what they want to achieve. Worse, they are afraid to take charge and stop others from stealing time. Here are five things to complete to get attendees prepared for your meeting: Send invitations in advance: Meetings should not be rushed. Nobody enjoys being invited to a meeting on the same day. Therefore,ameeting request emailshould be sent out at least 2–3 days.You can use social listening tools to analyze how your attendees would like to receive the invitation and what they want to discuss to make your meeting more productive. Distribute an agenda: A meeting with no plan is nothing more than a free-for-all. Make a schedule and give it to the attendees to be ready to debate the issues. If any advance materials need to be reviewed, please make sure you deliver them early enough so that attendees have time to study them. If you don't, your meeting will devolve into a "reading session." This is not an excellent way to spend anyone's time. You can also share your agenda online. If you do so, don’t forget to include the right call-to-action phrases so that attendees know what they are supposed to accomplish. Reserve meeting space: We've all tried to attend a meeting only to find out at the last minute that the invitation does not include a meeting location. Ensure you have enough meeting space for the number of people attending and the work needed. Set meeting expectations: Setting the expectation of "What is the meeting's goal?" is maybe the most critical thing you can do before the meeting. People prefer to know why they are attending in advance. It gives the meeting direction. Make your meeting topic as specific as possible. "Catch-up" is not an appropriate topic for a meeting. "Briefing on the progress of Project XYZ" is far more effective and will result in a more productive meeting. Suppose you don't prepare ahead of time. Then, the majority of meetings are doomed from the start. Meetings are so inefficient in many companies that they are considered the single biggest time-waster in the office. If you plan ahead of time for your meetings, you'll be able to make better use of everyone's time. Do some background research about the attendees There is no justification for not learning about the individuals you are meeting. You should know who is at the table, whether it's a one-on-one meeting or a conference table of ten. Please make a list of attendees and look them up on the Internet. Check over their LinkedIn profile and even their Facebook group to get a sense of who they are and how they can add to the conversation. The time you put in upfront will save you time on introductions and provide you with valuable information in the event of a problem. Set clear goals for yourself The majority of meetings ramble because people wait until the last minute to figure out what they want to get out of their time. Even if you're the only one who knows what needs to be done, you may direct the results to match your demands and declare success once the goals are completed. Plan a suggested agenda Prepare your preferred agenda ahead of time and present it to the group at the beginning of the meeting. People will most likely embrace your proposal or, at the very least, voice any essential changes that can be immediately agreed upon. So, pick your business objectives for the meeting and lead with them. Take into account any potential roadblocks Rather than waiting for the bombs to go off, prepare yourself for the drama that may happen. Consider which battles are worth your time and effort and which you are ready to give up. You can keep calm and proceed toward resolution fast if you are mentally prepared for the emotion and dispute. Get rid of any stumbling barriers You shouldn't wait until the meeting ends to fix every issue. Instead, you will save time for the attendees to identify potential concerns and resolve them before the meeting. Then, with enough information, you will be able to eliminate the necessity for the meeting. Decide the outcomes you want to achieve Ascertain that everyone understands why the meeting is necessary and the more significant impact on the parties involved. This is different from the tactical meeting objectives in that it is about understanding how this meeting fits into the overall strategy. For instance, if your meeting's general purpose is to discuss the benefits of e-commerce development on your business, then it’s obvious that the meeting should be prepared around this topic, with a lot of information and opinions included. If people aren't clear on this, the effort and outcomes will be disjointed at best and ineffective at worst. Consider what you'll do next Before entering the meeting, set aside time to take action that will benefit from the discussion. Most people don't think about follow-up and follow-through until after the session has ended. If you budget time that becomes unproductive, you can quickly redistribute it to more critical tasks. This is why it’s essential to plan your further actions, from sharing meeting photos and documents to maybe having another meeting. So make sure to schedule Instagram posts at the right time, send meeting documents to all attendees, and plan the next round-up, if needed. 4. Keep track of meeting notes You have a tight schedule and a million things to remember, and it's not just about work. For example, you could be discussing how an increasing number of businesses are using Litecoin and other digital assets throughout the world for various investment, operational, and transactional purposes. Of course, there could be risks, as with any frontier, but there are also great incentives. Examine the questions and insights businesses focus on when deciding whether or not to leverage digital assets. Meeting choices and action items, on the other hand, tend to be significant – to the point where the path your business takes may be dependent on them. Let's go into the nuts and bolts of taking great meeting notes. You might even believe you know how to take decent notes and are just seeking a professional-looking notes template in a Google Doc or Word document. However, most individuals write meeting notes the same way they took notes in school: they are incredibly long and detailed. In a professional situation, such note-taking is tiresome, and it doesn't result in meeting notes that your team members can use. Note-taking improves recall Note-taking has been demonstrated to boost knowledge memory in studies. Taking notes allows you to gain a deeper comprehension of the topic matter. While most of this note-taking study has been conducted in academic contexts, students may reap the same benefits while taking meeting notes professionally. If you take any form of notes during a meeting, you'll be more likely to recall what happened, even if you never look at them again. Notes make meetings meaningful Learning how to take the best meeting notes possible allows you to organize, retain, and act on information from your meetings. You and your team will be more effective and productive during meetings if you keep a record (also known as meeting minutes). Yes, simple meeting minutes can aid in the creation of a cycle of continuous improvement. The notes also hold the group accountable for making good use of meeting time. As time passes and you need to look everything up, meeting notes become increasingly important. You'll save a lot of time at work if you develop even a simple note-taking practice. Meeting notes enable professional success By taking notes in meetings, you may advance your career while also increasing your productivity at work. Well-written meeting notes position you as an organized person and a leader when you share them with coworkers or your supervisor. Your notes demonstrate that you are aware of the situation. They exude professional assurance. Taking (excellent) meeting notes can feel overwhelming with so much at stake, but it doesn't have to be. For starters, all you need is a laptop or notebook. (A meeting notes template may be helpful, but we've got you covered.) Here are some pointers on organizing your meeting notes to be concise, clear, and valuable to the reader. How to take good notes in meetings Nothing is more upsetting than spending an hour in a meeting and being unable to recall key points because you failed to take notes. Taking meeting notes/minutes that people will utilize, on the other hand, does not have to be complicated. So instead, follow a few simple guidelines. Whether you hold daily stand-ups or weekly one-on-ones, the following methods for organizing meeting notes can help you take better notes in various situations. Begin with the agenda for your meeting Instead of starting from scratch, copy the meeting agenda to give your notes structure. Keep a record of all attendees Make a list of who is attending the meeting before it begins. It's more about transparency than attendance when you list every person in the room. If someone who wasn't able to attend has issues with a meeting decision, having an attendee list on hand will assist you in remembering who was involved in the decision. You need to keep track of three critical points in your meeting notes. - Decisions - Outcomes - Action items If someone offers an update or a presentation, resist the urge to take thorough notes unless you know someone absent from the meeting and will want the information. Instead, you might want to take notes on each significant point or what ideas are mentioned during really crucial debates (rather than the entire discussion). Don't bother about recording everything If you try to catch everything word-for-word, you're likely to miss something important––like the group moving on without choosing. So instead, follow the Vital Meetings structure when taking meeting notes and concentrate on essential decisions, outcomes, and action items. For consistency, use meeting note templates You can use templates to write meeting notes in a specified format. Your meeting agenda is excellent to start when turning random letters into a reusable plan. Take notes from today's meeting and turn them into a template for your next one. You don't have to stick to your template for the letter. Instead, your minutes will be helpful to capture judgments made, key ideas, takeaways, and next steps. The template is designed to be used as an outline, organize your thoughts, and provide structure—but not to the point where your task is more difficult. How to take notes during a customer meeting Understanding and responding to your customers' changing requirements is essential for long-term customer success. Meetings are still one of the most efficient ways to gather feedback and improve customer engagement. Use the correct meeting notes template to master the art of customer meetings. Then, act on what you've learned to maintain those connections pleasant and healthy. 5. Conclude your meeting and share your thoughts It would be best to express your mind to achieve your objectives and advance in your job. Sharing ideas and creating connections with coworkers and your boss is essential for career progression. We're pleased to guide you in the correct direction with a few pointers on how to speak out and express your ideas so that fear no longer holds you back when it's your turn to shine. Perhaps you forgot to bring data back to a colleague, you felt like you didn't get your point across, or you sat in silence for long periods. Here are a few ideas for how you can contribute effectively to every meeting you attend: Be selective in your choices Selecting which meetings to attend allows you to concentrate your time and energy on those you have something beneficial to contribute or those you must participate in due to their potential impact on you. If you've been invited to a meeting but don't believe you have the skills to contribute, politely inquire why you've been asked. You might be able to offer a more suitable replacement. If you're short on time, see if you can attend only the meeting parts that are relevant to you. If you are unable to participate, ask if you can communicate your comments to the chairperson via email so that you can still participate, although from afar. Suggest the latest techs and trends in the market. For example, you might want to suggest lead generation tools or software to improve your company’s sales make sure you are clear and concise in your delivery. Make a list of your points Make sure you own a copy of the agenda before the meeting begins. Then, research your topics, develop a list of the essential questions and points you want to make, and take down any additional information or remarks that may help you make your case more credible. Find out who else is going and why they're going. Then, consider what information or input they're looking for from you, such as statistics, figures, or more specialized knowledge. Identify Your Role Explain why you were invited to the meeting in the first place. For example, are you there to help your coworkers, provide feedback on a proposal, or propose an idea? If you're unclear, ask the chairperson what he wants from you ahead of time. If you don't appear to have a defined position but are required to go, make one. Inquire with the chairman or other attendees if there is any research or assistance you could provide. This might include anything from double-checking the meeting room's equipment to purchasing cookies to offer. Use your strengths to your advantage Playing to your talents can help you add the most value and focus on improving workflow. For example, if you lack self-confidence or are an introvert, speaking in public may be difficult; thus, your strength may lie in delivering more deliberate, studied thoughts. You could, for example, volunteer to provide a pre-meeting analysis of the meeting's topic or share your comments in writing after the session is over. If you're more outspoken, your ability to speak up and move conversations forward will likely be respected. But keep in mind that contributing value also entails the capacity to listen and truly "take in" and grasp what others are saying before responding. Assist Others in Being Heard It's all about exchanging different points of view in productive meetings. You don't have to be the meeting's chairperson to assist others in making their arguments. You could redirect attention back to a colleague if they were interrupted or disregarded, "Excuse me, Jamie, what were you going to say?" can be as simple as that. If you agree with something, someone says, say so. You might wish to improve on their concept by adding your ideas now that you've given them credit for it. Inviting coworkers to comment might make them feel supported and create a welcoming environment. Make a positive body language statement Your body language and gestures will make a huge difference in a meeting. For example, sitting straight, smiling at the speaker, and spreading your arms outwards show that you're open to new minds and willing to listen. This is especially important if you’re speaking to business peers as the right gestures help improve your brand voice and connect with your audience more effectively. It makes the speaker feel supported and encourages other participants to speak. It provides a positive example that others will notice and desire to emulate, creating a pleasant, vibrant, and constructive environment. Sitting slumped in a chair, playing with your tablet or phone, on the other hand, may create the appearance that you'd rather be somewhere else. In addition, it could deplete the room's energy and encourage others to tune out. Take Effective Notes When the meeting is over, you still have the potential to add value. Taking thorough notes allows you to keep track of what was said and what you learned from the discussion. To make this process even more fun, you can use items such as company pens, branded tapes, and notebooks with your logo design. If there was no official note-taker at the meeting, you could offer to share your notes or a summary with other attendees and those unable to attend. Five tips to boost meeting productivity Ineffective meetings are more than just a tedious experience for your employees; they can also cost your company money. Unproductive meetings have opportunity costs in the form of pay and office-related costs and indirect costs such as lost employee work time and reduced employee satisfaction, which leads to higher employee onboarding programs. Meetings are nearly entirely virtual these days, so many employees and leaders are navigating a new manner of attending and holding meetings, making productivity even more difficult. 1. The Real Problem Isn't Time Increasing the effectiveness of your meetings is as much about optimizing your energy levels as it is about maximizing the amount of time you spend on them. Unfortunately, many employees are stressed out about not having enough time to perform their allocated responsibilities, and they claim that meetings rob them of this valuable resource. Consider staff energy levels while choosing the schedule and duration of your meeting to reduce the negative connotations associated with meetings. If you're planning a lengthier team meeting, take breaks to ensure that productivity remains at its peak. While virtual meetings may appear to be less taxing on your employees' energy levels, arranging meetings at the proper time is just as vital as holding them in person. All you have to do is deliver the right message through SaaS webinar email templates if it’s à webinar-like meeting, choose the right employees for the meeting, etc. Work patterns and schedules, as well as meeting practices, should be consistent for your personnel. 2. Keep meetings to a minimum and as brief as possible "Work expands to cover the time available for completion," according to Parkinson's Law. This is also true for your business meetings. For example, if you arrange an hour-long session, your team will fill it up quickly to stay on schedule. This should caution that you're not getting the most out of your meetings. Instead of filling up a meeting time, try to make your meetings as brief as possible. This keeps your agenda focused and free of distractions and filler. If, for example, your meeting is about whether or not you should integrate a WordPress chatbot on your website, make sure you discuss the pros and cons, how you can acquire one, and what you should focus on. Similarly, you could also discuss how to train ChatGPT on custom data for your business needs.This will save you from wasted time and distractions. Setting a meeting time limit of 10 or 15 minutes can be beneficial. According to studies, our attention span is only 10 to 18 minutes. Some businesses even use time-tracking tools like a timer or an incentive to complete on time. Make it a rule never to schedule a meeting that will last more than 30 minutes. Work in a short pause halfway through the meeting to keep your team members' complete attention throughout. Do not stretch your chatter to fill up space if you run out of time before the clock. Instead, make sure that everyone has gotten all of the information they need and then let them get back to work on their own. 3. Establish a no-smartphone zone Both meeting leaders and attendees find cell phones or tablets during meetings to be inconvenient. In addition, many people think that it demonstrates a lack of respect for the speaker and their colleagues. Still, it indicates that complete involvement is patchy or missing, which might deter others from being fully present and attentive during meetings. To improve employee engagement, make your meeting spaces a smartphone-free zone; urging individuals to put their phones outside in a basket or at their desks will help reduce any distractions and ensure that all attendees are fully engaged. For other employees, remote work can be an even more distracting working style, exacerbated by a lack of control over using their smartphones for non-work-related objectives. In such cases, coworking spaces are the best solution for working effectively with the whole team and making the working process more flexible. Even when employing technology to hold the meeting, keeping meetings to a smartphone-free time for all team members appears to enhance overall efficiency. 4. Limit the number of people who attend Limiting the number of guests invited is a less typical strategy used by companies to increase meeting productivity. For example, Google, one of the world's most successful firms, is known for allowing no more than ten individuals in a conference at any given time. You can keep your meeting controlled and targeted toward the exact conclusion you want by limiting attendees and inviting only vital persons. Consider various email marketing tools for startups to make your invitations go straight to the people you need for your meeting. However, when you ask too many individuals, you risk most of your audience not having a clear voice and not focusing on their everyday activities. Image source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/crop-colleagues-browsing-laptop-at-table-6457478/ A powerful strategy to maintain your meetings cost-effectively is to limit the number of attendees. Every employee is paid on an hourly basis; adding up the hourly salaries of all attendees yields a general hourly fee for a meeting. Thus, keeping the number of people in a meeting to a minimum reduces the direct costs of holding the meeting. It also ensures you have the people you need for the meeting which, in turn, helps you build an online community based on employees interested in company discussions. 5. Make a list of action items at the end of your meeting You should always set out a few minutes at the end of any fruitful meeting to summarise what has been covered. Then, ask the following questions: - What is the timeframe? - What are your plans for the future? - Who is responsible for them? Depending on how big your audience is, adjust the timeframe for this reflection period. As a general rule, allow 30 seconds for every meeting attendee to ensure that everyone has a good understanding of these three questions. Everyone should have a clear awareness of their responsibilities and be accountable to other meeting attendees when a meeting ends. Send out a summary of the minutes and any particular action items discussed at the end of the meeting. Add the DRI to each of these action points (Directly Responsible Individual). This ensures that the meeting's objectives are met. Conclusion It all comes down to preparation, organization, and respect when it comes to planning a great meeting. Take the time to figure out why you want to hold a meeting, rather than just doing it for its sake. Meetings can generate new ideas, uncover solutions to complex problems, address difficulties, and foster camaraderie, among other things. Management software like Hirebook will guide organizers with the main things teams should know while leading any meeting. Stay organized when making plans. Provide background information, an agenda, and a timely start to the meeting. In the end, it's all about treating your coworkers with respect. The meeting will impact you if you provide them with the tools to succeed and make the most of their time. Every day, meetings take place. So why not make the next one even better? 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!

When you work remotely, do you feel like you miss out on the social aspect of work? Do you feel like you don't have anyone to talk to during the day? You're not alone. Many remote workers feel this way, which can be a significant drawback of working from home. In this blog post, we will discuss ways to make remote work friendlier and more social. What does a back-to-human work culture mean? A back-to-human work culture means putting people first. It means valuing employees as individuals and giving them the time, space, and respect they need to do their best work. It also means creating a positive workplace culture where people feel comfortable taking risks, making mistakes, and learning from their experiences. Back-to-human work culture is where employees feel valued and supported, not micro-managed or bogged down by bureaucracy. Furthermore, at its heart, back-to-human work culture is about building relationships and creating a sense of community in the workplace. When employees are happier and more engaged, they're more productive and creative. The biggest challenges of remote work While remote work has many benefits, some challenges also come with it. Flexible schedules and overworking One of the biggest challenges for remote workers is creating a flexible schedule that works for them. It's important to find a good work-life balance between working enough hours to stay productive and taking time off to relax and rejuvenate. It can be tough to stick to this balance, but it's definitely worth trying to find something that works for you. After all, it depends on the individual and their work preferences. Some people love the freedom of remote work and can get a lot done without feeling overwhelmed by a traditional office setting. Others find it hard to stay focused when working from home and may benefit from a more flexible schedule that allows them to take short breaks during the day or work different hours each day. The key is to find what works best for you and your productivity levels and then communicate that preference to your supervisor or team. It's also crucial to be proactive about managing deadlines and ensuring that all assigned tasks are completed in time, regardless of where you're working from. Lack of contact The lack of contact is the biggest challenge of remote work because it's tough to stay connected with team members when you're not physically together. This can lead to a lack of communication which can impact productivity and project deadlines. There are a few reasons why lack of contact can be the biggest challenge of remote work. First, remote workers can often feel isolated and disconnected from their team. This can prompt feelings of loneliness and boredom, which can impact productivity and motivation. Second, it can be difficult to build trust and collaborate effectively with remote teammates without regular contact. And finally, lack of communication can induce misunderstandings and frustrations that can damage relationships. Some ways to overcome this challenge include using video conferencing tools like Slack, Skype, or Zoom, scheduling regular check-ins, and setting up team-building activities like virtual happy hours. By staying connected both electronically and emotionally, it encourages your remote employees to stay productive and cohesive. Asynchronous communication Asynchronous communication could generate some issues for remote workers. For example, it can be difficult to "read the tone" of a message when you can't see the person's facial expressions or hear the inflection in their voice. This often causes misinterpretations and misunderstandings, or could make constructive feedback sound like a mockery. Next, it can be difficult to stay on top of all of your asynchronous communication channels when you're working on projects that require your full attention. Messages can get buried in inboxes, notifications can pile up, and before you know it, you've missed an important conversation. Finally, asynchronous communication often takes longer than face-to-face or real-time communication. This is because, usually, there's more back-and-forth involved, and people can't get immediate feedback. If this is ignored for too long, it can delay decision-making and project progress. The best ways to foster a back-to-human work culture Improved onboarding with a buddy program and game nights A buddy program can be a great way to help new employees feel welcomed and comfortable in their new role, and game nights are always a fun way to bond with coworkers. Plus, it's a great way to get to know each other better, build camaraderie in the workplace, and encourage collaboration. Buddy programs and game nights are great for improving onboarding. They help break the ice and make the new employee feel welcome and, at the same time, help them learn about the company culture and get to know their coworkers. Additionally, these activities help employees bond with one another, leading to increased productivity and create a more positive work environment. Improved training, learning and development opportunities Employees who feel valued and supported are more likely to be productive and engaged in their work. By providing training and learning opportunities, you show your employees that you care about their development and invest in their future. Training and learning opportunities are essential for two reasons. First, they help employees stay up-to-date on the latest trends and technologies. Second, they show employees that you support their development, which can increase engagement and motivation. You can even make training as a reward for excellent performance, for example, if the company reaches 100 employees, a leadership training will be provided. Improved recruitment that sells a career path One of the primary reasons why employees change companies is that today's jobs offer a paycheck and a role while not thinking about long-term career prospects. Your candidates are no longer looking for roles that will have them sitting in the same position for years without any professional development. Before you put out a new opening, think carefully about the career progression for that role in the upcoming year or two. Where will your company be, and what are your plans? What should this person achieve in a year or two? What skill sets do this role needs? Think about each of your open roles and develop a career progression plan for each. Having one will attract better candidates and give your employees a sense of purpose. Add to these specific goals for advancing to the next role, and you'll have an army of motivated employees yearning for professional growth. Improved employee engagement through different activities Just because you work remotely, it doesn't mean that you can't do any team-building activities on a regular basis. In fact, there are plenty of activities that you can try out that don't require lots of effort or resources. One of them is a group activity called campfires - where your team can get together and listen to one employee talk about something they're passionate about. The rest of the team listens, asks or questions. You can also watch a movie or a TV show with your teammates. From simple apps such as Skype or Zoom to specifically tailored apps like Gaze, watching something together with your remote team has never been easier. Another neat activity is called an icebreaker - where you ask an interesting question at the beginning of a meeting to get to know everyone better. For example, what was your dream career when you were little? Is there an animal that you're afraid of? As remote work becomes more common, new tools, apps, and games are being launched every day. Try out some and find something that your team love. Conclusion The best way to make remote work friendlier is by focusing on the human element. This can be done through improved onboarding, training, and recruitment practices that sell a career path and development opportunities. Additionally, creating a culture of connection and engagement through activities like virtual game nights can help to generate a more cohesive team, improve leadership skill, and promote sense of belonging. In the bigger picture, creating a back-to-human work place will improve your company’s score card. About author: Raisa Yogiaman is a content marketer at Zavvy - an employee enablement platform that combines employee experience with smart workflow automation.

It can be challenging for some organizations to decide which types of software are most suitable for their operations. Significant decisions must be made, whether it's customer relationship management (CRM) or payroll software. HR professionals are usually tasked with finding a viable onboarding software for new hires. Ensuring a smooth process for new employees is crucial in paving the way for their success in an organization. Thankfully, there are many types of HR platforms chock-full of features and solutions that can make onboarding new hires a breeze. Below are some key features to look for in onboarding software and 13 of the best onboarding software to use in 2022. What Should Onboarding Software Provide for HR Professionals? The absence of good onboarding software can lead to team member turnover, which no employer wants for their business or valued employees. Here are some key features to consider when choosing onboarding software: Remote access Multimedia capabilities Integration tools Customer support Talent management Feedback modules Social learning support Mobile optimization Certification Target analytics Goal-setting features and tracking Onboarding software plays a crucial role in helping new employees reach their performance goals, feel welcomed into a new organization, and achieve high productivity and employee engagement levels. 1. LIKE.TG LIKE.TG is dedicated to providing powerful solutions for your HR teams and creating an exceptional employee experience LIKE.TG’s Onboard tool delivers the onboarding experience today’s employees expect: automated workflows and personalized portals that include welcome messages, custom fillable electronic forms, videos, instructional content, and important documents. Onboard walks you through compliance-related onboarding tasks, such as I-9 documentation and E-Verify. In this case, new hires can electronically sign, save, and submit I-9 forms from any device. HR departments can save time, achieve productivity, and streamline and automate processes to create great experiences for their new employees. LIKE.TG offers features including: Employee self-service Onboarding capabilities Employee profile E-sign and e-forms Personalized portals Custom workflows I-9 and e-verify Automatic notifications Progress reports App integrations LIKE.TG's website also offers a return on investment (ROI) calculator to help organizations decide if its solution is right for their operations. Some well-known companies, such as Peloton, TeleCom, and Lever, use LIKE.TG for employee onboarding. 2. GoCo GoCo is customizable, user-friendly and a comprehensive employee onboarding software with exceptional customer service and expert HR support. GoCo allows HR departments to offer customized offer letters with e-signature capabilities and can make sending and collecting documents simple. GoCo's onboarding tool also allows employees to participate in self-service benefits enrollment. Payroll setup is easy. Essentially, this is a one-stop-shop HR professionals can use to build a successful employee experience for new hires. 3. Hibob Automated flows, preboarding, culture and engagement, shoutouts and personalized onboarding are some of the key features Hibob offers its users. EToro, Fiverr and Zenjob are some companies that partner with Hibob for onboarding programs. All workflows are automated, meaning HR professionals can customize their processes and let the software do the rest. Its interface mirrors a social media platform, which can be fun and engaging for new hires. One notable feature is Hibob's Clubs, which allows workers to connect based on hobbies and their "superpowers." It's understood that office interactions help alleviate new employee anxieties, and being able to accomplish this with bob's platform is very useful. 4. ADP ADP is a centralized onboarding solution that offers streamlined processes and the chance for new hires to connect with existing employees in an organization. ADP's automated solutions allow HR professionals to connect with new hires before they arrive at the office on their first day. Its Onboarding Buddy (optional) can help alleviate some of the nerves people have when starting at a new company. HR teams can share the organization's values and culture with new hires through personalized videos. New hire checklists can be assigned during the onboarding process. ADP's solution also helps workers eliminate repetitive tasks, such as data entry. 5. Greenhouse Cars.com, Datto and Wunderman Thompson are examples of companies that use Greenhouse onboarding software. Onboarding with Greenhouse starts before the new hire's first day. It provides an organized hub of useful resources, helps employees connect with other team members, and lets new hires familiarize themselves with the company culture and policies. There are two options available for HR teams: Greenhouse Onboarding and Greenhouse Welcome. Greenhouse Onboarding provides some extra features that Welcome does not. Consider both when researching Greenhouse to see which one is suitable, as each is priced differently. 6. Gusto Gusto allows HR employees to create one onboarding checklist for every new employee. It includes must-have features, such as customized offer letters, e-signatures for necessary documents and plenty of app integrations. Some popular business apps like Asana, Microsoft 365, Zoom and Slack work with Gusto's cloud-based onboarding system. Gusto is an easy-to-use onboarding software solution that works well for many types of organizations. This can be helpful if an HR team is not fully developed or some of the employees in the department are entry-level. 7. Ultimate UKG Pro, formerly known as UltiPro Onboarding, can take a company's onboarding process to the next level. It's a personalized, collaborative solution that can help workers feel welcome on their first day. Employees can complete onboarding tasks before their first day and access the software on their preferred mobile device. Ultimate onboarding software also allows HR teams to leverage a useful administrative dashboard to view key employee data regarding new hires. Employees can electronically review, complete and sign all types of paperwork. Companies in various industries have successfully leveraged UKG Pro for all this software's benefits. 8. Trello Trello provides new hires with two lists of tasks to complete based on their role. Employees can feel confident in using Trello. They can even see what preboarding tasks their HR team is working on before day one. HR employees reap the benefits of its simple onboarding feature by following the steps listed below: Create a master template board for each new hire. Copy the board and include the new hire's name. Add the new hire and other team members who help with onboarding to the board. Add new hire cards (tasks) they will work on during the first few workdays. Over 1,000,000 teams use Trello — some notable companies being Google, Fender and Costco Wholesale. Trello has a built-in automation tool called Butler, eliminating several tedious tasks for HR teams. It's known for its ease of use and simple onboarding procedures. 9. Rippling Rippling is a one-stop-shop for HR professionals looking to connect new hires to their organizations. Its key feature is automation, allowing HR employees to focus on other meaningful tasks. Onboarding can even take as little as 90 seconds. Additionally, Rippling has a blog that helps HR teams develop a comprehensive onboarding checklist, including steps during preboarding and guidance for first-day tasks. Rippling helps organizations avoid bottlenecks during the hiring and onboarding processes. It also received PC Magazine's Editor's Choice award for its software capabilities. 10. BambooHR BambooHR allows teams to focus more on creating a positive first impression with new hires rather than sorting through mountains of paperwork. The onboarding process is efficient and organized, and new hires receive a tailored onboarding experience. New Hire Packet Templates offered by BambooHR makes it easy to customize onboarding for different jobs, saving time and reducing HR's administrative load. New employees receive tasks they can complete on their own time and at their own pace, allowing them to feel confident on their first day. A notable feature of BambooHR is its electronic signature software, which digitizes collecting paperwork from new hires. 11. Sapling Warby Parker, Webflow and AngelList use Sapling to assist with their new employee onboarding processes. All recruitment data can be imported into Sapling's software, and new hires receive a welcoming experience from the start of their employment. Tasks and workflows can be automated, and its Smart Assignment feature allows HR team members to assign tasks with confidence. Save time using Sapling and onboard multiple employees at once and with ease. Sapling supports seasonal hiring or hiring for similar roles across different company locations. It offers many app integrations, such as JazzHR, Lever, Slack and Google Suite. 12. ClearCompany ClearCompany's onboarding tools are efficient, simple, and best for the modern HR professional. There is a new hire portal, intuitive user interface (UI), device and equipment management, compliance and I-9 management, and bulk onboarding. Companies can also share onboarding goals and help new hires feel welcome and an integral part of the team. Additionally, ClearCompany integrates with leading payroll providers, so getting new hires set up is a breeze. Auto-fill technology makes filling out important paperwork easy. 13. WorkBright WorkBright's onboarding software makes form collection and onboarding simple, modern and efficient. It was awarded the FinancesOnline Expert's Choice 2020 Award, which shows how well it performs for HR managers. WorkBright is also considered a great software solution for small businesses. WorkBright offers an intuitive interface for new hires to view their dashboard and complete tasks before day one. It's also mobile-friendly software that can be accessed from anywhere. New employees can be set up with WorkBright in as little as one minute. It sends new hires important documents via email for a quick turnaround. Craft an Effective First-Day Experience With Onboarding Software Many companies use various types of management software, and onboarding software can be a game-changer. Employee performance management, benefits administration, and applicant tracking systems are examples of critical features that should be included in business software, as they can all be greatly beneficial for organizations of all sizes and types. Employee retention is an important part of doing business in today's competitive markets. When organizations hire new, qualified candidates, setting them up for success with preboarding and an intuitive onboarding experience can help improve retention rates and prevent resignations. Author Bio: This article is written by our marketing team at LIKE.TG. LIKE.TG is dedicated to providing powerful solutions for your HR teams and creating an exceptional employee experience. Our aim is to help your company improve employee engagement, onboarding, and to save you valuable time!