Author: dayoff

  • Employees Self Service: 9 Best Practices

    Employees Self Service: 9 Best Practices

    Every user experience is multifaceted. It takes organizations years to fully mature and delivers excellent results. However, you can reap significant short and long-term benefits with the best Employees Self Service practices. Let’s take a look!

    10 Best Practices for a Successful Implementation

    Your company can achieve this sustainable commitment through continuous refinement. Only then can you exceed the expectation of your users. Make small, incremental changes to witness larger ones.

    1. Make Self-Service Easy

    If users cannot locate the self-service area, does the functionality exist? Try to create a system that is accessible. Increase and encourage the use of assisted channels. Your team will be frustrated otherwise.

    2. Empower Users

    A company with successful implementation is the one that makes users feel confident and empowered. Therefore, usability is crucial for its success.

    Once you empower your users, you will have increased adoption rates. In addition, there will be more user loyalty and word-of-mouth advertising.

    Avoid displaying excessive information. You will overwhelm your users otherwise. Focus on simplicity. Add meaningful and valuable content. Remove anything that doesn’t add meaning to your platform. Hide the unimportant features.

    Focus on the probabilities. Don’t offer multiple choices to your user. Instead, provide the possible decisions to help your user—incorporate images and icons for easy recognition. Most importantly, focus on functionality and device compatibility.

    3. Understand Your Users’ Problems

    Goals are critical when developing a self-service strategy. Organizations often misconceive the user experience. They typically want to resolve a problem but fail to do so.

    Resolution rates play a huge role in an organization’s understanding of problems. Therefore, you should better know potential problems to help resolve the issues.

    Here’s what you can anticipate with self-service platforms:

    1. The user may want to report an issue. It could also be on behalf of someone else.
    2. The user may need software or hardware access.
    3. The company’s HR personnel make requests on behalf of an employee.
    4. A user may request someone for assistance when self-service isn’t sufficient.

    Don’t give into building a platform based on the internal workings of your department. The existing workflow may not be relevant elsewhere. Moreover, it may not match the mental model of other users or departments.

    4. Provide Relatable Content

    Create content that is easy to read and write. Don’t use jargon. Stick to the point. Users like skimming between pages. They don’t like heavy content. Use graphics to catch their attention. Use videos or bold texts. Make the users glance again.

    More importantly, good content is crucial for an excellent user experience. You don’t have to be technical or educated to reach out to them. Make sure your content is readable. An eighth-grader should be able to read it!

    These content guidelines will increase the effectiveness of your content. It will be easy to translate them too. So you can serve a multilingual customer base. The more complicated the content is, the more poorly the software will translate it.

    5. Provide Multi-Channel Help Desk Choices

    Offering a unified experience across multiple channels will elevate the success of self-service. Therefore, it should always be the primary and only business solution. However, uptake on this channel can be slow.

    Here are some of the channels you may pick:

    A.    Web Self-Services

    Directing interactions to web self-services will result in high success rates. Users can resolve their problems quickly and effectively. As a result, the organization can improve its user relationship while lowering costs on other channels.

    B.    Chat

    This channel offers a powerful way to connect with users. It passively helps users engage with support issues. Real-time interactions will provide better engagement. Otherwise, users may abandon the self-service experience.

    C.    Phone

    Phones can help users gain immediate information. This platform also offers a combination of the two services.

    D.    E-mail

    This channel allows strong communication between the user and the organization. This channel is helpful for low-priority issues. It also enables users to respond when it’s most convenient for them.

    6. Optimize User Feedback

    You’ve poured blood, sweat, and tears into developing your self-service platform. You want it to be the absolute best. However, you won’t find flaws as others will. As a result, it’s easier to be biased. This gap is why you need user feedback.

    You will get to know how to improve your self-service application. Use a multitude of tools and surveys to make your platform successful. Detect the changes in personality behavior and take actions accordingly.

    7. Measure the Performance

    Users dislike taking the path of low resistance. They don’t want a slow, awkward self-service experience. Your users will abandon the platform like this. Make sure all the graphics are optimized for websites and cellphones.

    A self-service session is said to be successful if no problem is reported. FAQs or articles should resolve all issues. However, you shouldn’t focus on this. A user may have stumbled across an answer and given up in the process.

    8. Offer a Personalized Experience

    People seek personalized experiences. Consider the information you can already use. Retrieve data you already have access to. Personalized experiences build loyalty among users. On the other hand, people don’t like repeatedly inputting information.

    Here’s what you can do:

    1. First, don’t force users to re-enter information. It’s aggravating and annoying.
    2. Automatically populate data fields. Make use of similar information.  Allow users to edit and modify the content accordingly.
    3. Clearly label the mandatory fields. Make the forms simple so users can easily navigate them.

    9. Improve Accessibility Support

    The information must be accessible. Your platform should support a variety of browsers and platforms. Try incorporating assistive technology for users with disabilities. Your self-service content should have maximum reach.

    Conclusion

    Employee self-service platforms are crucial in today’s organization. A typical organization needs to be in a constant state of improvement.

    Here are some of the basics: Don’t create content that is difficult to find. Don’t make cluttered or crowded content. Make every interaction meaningful. Make use of customer feedback. Elevate the content accordingly.

    Adopting all nine practices can be intimidating at first. It’s an overwhelming process. The organization takes years to implement these practices successfully. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Move slowly and steadily. Your company will flourish in no time!

  • 6 Employee Recognition Strategies To Apply In Your Team

    6 Employee Recognition Strategies To Apply In Your Team

    Handling a team can be rather stressful and tiring work if the team members often complain of not being highlighted or appreciated enough. It can be even more problematic if their negative feelings hamper the output itself, such as your marketing team not coming up with the best ideas because they feel the team leader does not appreciate their work or that the company itself undermines the effort put in. In such cases, employee recognition strategies are one of the best solutions for displaying your gratitude or your company to your team or employees in general. These methods often lead to a creative and motivated workforce as your employees feel appreciated and encouraged towards work. Any monotony is outweighed in the long run.

    What are Employee Recognition Strategies?

    The term “employee recognition” refers to the method of showing gratitude or appreciation towards the employees for their significant contributions to the company’s betterment, which can include achieving the targets or certain goals set by the company or firm in either the long or short term. Employee recognition strategies are numerous methods or ways that can be used by the company or firm to highlight employees, make them feel more valued, and help the growth of the firm itself in the long term.

    What are the Strategies You Can Use!

    1. Empower Employees with Monetary Rewards

    One of the most effective, not to mention successful, is awarding your employees with monetary rewards. This may include an increase in salary if a certain target is reached or giving out commissions if goals are met at the earliest. This will provide a sense of importance to your employees, as their efforts will be recognized more.

    2.     Give Bonuses and Prizes

    In addition to monetary awards, another effective method is bonuses and prizes. This may include festival bonuses such as a new year or Christmas bonuses, or even any holiday bonus in the country your company is operating in. Also, involving prizes creates an incentive for your employees to work hard and tap the potential in them. Such a prize may include “Employee of the Month” or “Best Employee,” or a day off which may attract the employees towards focusing on work even more.

    3.     Stand out from the Crowd

    By thinking outside of the box, you can make your company the best workplace in the world. This means approaching your employees with various other benefits that make them feel valued and important.

    An example can include adding a caregiver section to the office for your female employees who have recently given birth. It can also include a suitable kitchen with appliances that are convenient for your employees to get coffee or tea during breaks or a hangout area for your employees to just have fun.

    4.     Start Making Opportunities Available

    Furthermore, providing more opportunities and chances to those you have recently joined can create an incentive for beginners to be better at their tasks and perform well as they feel hopeful about working hard. Because they can achieve better opportunities by working hard and producing a fruitful output,

    5.     Increase peer-to-peer Recognition

    Peer-to-peer recognition is a more modern method of employee recognition. It allows feedback to circulate from the team leader to the team and from the team members to the team leader.

    It can be an adequate method of employee recognition, such as asking for individual feedback regarding your company’s progress from employees or handing out forms involving surveys being carried out to get proper feedback, as employees may not be comfortable with one-to-one feedback sessions.

    6.     Offer an Incentive that Goes Above and Beyond 

    There is no real limitation with employee recognition strategies when it comes to appreciating your employees’ hard work. Hence, based on your company policies, you can go above and beyond to highlight the efforts and contributions made by the employees. You may use the following methods that may be a little bit outside of your budget but can be tremendously effective if used properly.

    For example, profit sharing is a method of distributing portions of profit made by the company to employees who have performed well over several years. Similarly, share distribution under market value is also a significantly effective way to encourage your employees to work extra hard for the benefit they can get.

    To Conclude

    Overall, employee recognition strategies are very important and practical if used properly and in a certain way that aligns with your company’s budget and targets. It also highly depends on the extent to which you require the need for an ultra-effective workforce and how much you are willing to spend, or the length you are willing to go to highlight your employees’ efforts in general.

    On the other hand, the financial incentives are much more important to focus on. They can be costly and expensive, not to mention risky, to hand out shares of your own company as rewards. Hence, if you are looking towards these methods as an employer, it is best to initiate the process with non-financial incentives first.

    However, suppose you are just in charge of a single team. In that case, the tactics stated above, such as awarding rewards and incentives, may be just as successful because working as a team will ultimately help the firm succeed. The employee recognition methods can also be of greater use if they are consulted with the company itself so that your team can work to its full potential.

  • 5 tips to encourage better work-life balance for your team

    5 tips to encourage better work-life balance for your team

    We are all thriving every day at work and also giving time to our personal lives. And, because both aspects of our lives are crucial, one must be prioritized over the other. While we all try to balance work and professional life in neutral gear, sometimes it doesn’t stay that way. Hence, in this article, we tried to outline the different methods and ways that will enable one to have a perfectly balanced life and maintain a work-life balance, specifically listed just for you!

    What is “Work-life Balance” in General?

    The relationship between work and personal life is known as the work-life connection. Many aspects of one’s personal life, such as family, leisure, and health, can collide with a career. Work-life balance is a two-way street; for example, work can interfere with personal life, and personal life can interfere with work.

    Hence, it is essential to strike a perfect balance between one’s career and personal life activities, as both may not always be parallel and often collide with each other, which may not be in a healthy manner.

    Stress from work can often have a negative impact on one’s personal life. This may involve coming home after a very busy day and being unable to give time to family, friends, or even ourselves. Self-leisure time, along with family and friend time, is something that everyone requires to live a healthy life, and when work and personal life collide, we often sidetrack our personal lives and give in way too much in our professional lives, leading to an unhealthy lifestyle that often damages one’s mental and physical health over time.

    Similarly, sometimes our emotions may intervene in our professional lives and may overtake professionalism in the work environment, often leading to being rude to colleagues or simply having a languishing feeling. Such incidents often create a negative reputation toward one image at work, which necessarily doesn’t have a significant impact, but may have its own downsides depending on the degree of rudeness and whatnot.

    Thus, to solve such an issue, it is highly suggested that you focus on certain activities that will help you keep a neutral gear in your work and personal life.

    Types of ‘Work-Life balance’ Activities Teams

    If you are leading a team and are having a hard time managing a team well due to a lack of a certain work-life balance, then this section of the article is just for you. In this particular section, we tried to jot down various methods that can aid in achieving a perfect, or at least close to perfect, work-life balance for your team.

    Taking Time Off Between Work

    One of the most problematic situations is working continuously for hours without a proper break in between. According to medical science, our brains can remember things in short bursts, so working for five to six hours may not result in creative and productive output from your team at the end of the day but may lead to possible inefficiency and lack of quality content from your team.

    Hence, when having teamwork, ensure you and your team are taking regular and proper breaks and time off between the busy schedule and workload assigned to the team.

    Proper Planning

    When working with a team, one must focus on creating a proper work and leisure plan. It may include time limits on when to stop working or take short breaks or start working. The plan should have a creative foundation that gives an equal amount of time between personal life activities and work-life to strike the right balance.

    Encourage a no-work-at-home Policy after Hours

    Furthermore, it is essential to keep a no-work-at-home policy. This means not starting any work after returning home or coming from work after doing hours of work in the office. Hence, keeping a no-work policy at home will give you and your members more time to spend time with family and friends instead of working another four to five hours, which will eventually lead to a very hectic life in the long run.

    Work Schedule Flexibility

    Work schedule flexibility should be highly focused on when understanding the productivity and other variables of your team. This includes having a good time interval between projects given to the team and not having back-to-back projects and workload being put on your team. Hence, monitoring the time frame of how much work your team is doing and how high the pressure is may help create a work-life balance.

    Hobbies Should be Encouraged

    Aside from your professional life and its workload, you can have different hobbies that act as therapeutic ways to balance work and life. This may include watching movies, listening to songs, painting, taking a walk every morning, having a garden, or even cooking! Anything that helps keep your creative boat afloat is a hobby. It is also essential that your team members are encouraged to have hobbies as well for a perfect balance!

    To conclude

    At the end of the day, it highly depends on how your team interacts and communicates and whether work-life balance is a significant issue or not. Hence, the outline mentioned above may not fully align with your team members or either your life motto, but these are outlined for your convenience and pointed out in a way that can help maximize the neutrality between your work life and personal life in the long run.

  • Workplace communication styles: the main 4

    Workplace communication styles: the main 4

    workplace communication styles are the key to an effective workforce anywhere around the world. But are you someone who notices a slight difference in behavior at work when compared? If you answered “yes,” then you are correct! There are certain methods to understand how someone behaves differently compared to others and how their communication style impacts others.

    What are “Communication styles’ in the workplace?

    Our predisposition to communicate directly or indirectly defines our communication styles. In the office, you’re likely to encounter four different communication styles. You’ll be better able to work with any sort of person if you can precisely recognize each style. These workplace communication styles allow us to better understand the work environment and our colleagues, as this indicates the ongoing situation in any workplace.

    The four types of ‘Communication Styles’ in the workplace

    In order to answer your confusion and questions, we tried to jot down the four possible communication styles in any workplace that you may join and encounter on average. And to sum it up, we can say there are exactly four crucial communication styles in any workplace that you will go through, and they may not necessarily be positive or heartwarming in any form. Starting with;

    Manipulative Behavior

    Manipulative conduct is when one person tries to control another’s emotions to get a particular response or result. Some of the core signs of a manipulative colleague or person in a workplace would be making excuses for you, blaming you, or intentionally divulging information about you while keeping other realities hidden. They usually think they are gaining control over you and some sense of intellectual superiority by doing so. Exaggeration and generalization are two skills that manipulators excel at.

    It is very much encouraged not to be categorized as a manipulator as office policies may claim such incidents as bullies, and if you are someone who has been a victim of a manipulator, it is advised to talk to the human resources team or authorities immediately.

    Submissive

    To obey or surrender to someone else is to be subservient. You yield to someone else’s wishes when you are submissive, which means you put your own objectives below theirs. Submissive behavior often includes a variety of signs, such as self-protection, which is described as hunching the body, providing a sense of protection, and shielding critical parts, such as the crotch with hands or the neck with a chin pressed down.

    While being submissive is acceptable, it is dependent on the degree to which someone in a workplace is submissive. Suppose you are someone who takes up unnecessary work because you want to be nice. In that case, it may not be healthy in the long run but rather have a damaging impact on the self-esteem and confidence of someone who is always submissive to a very significant degree.

    And hence, it is usually easy to influence and manipulate submissive people at work.

    passive-aggressive

    Acting indirectly hostile rather than outright aggressive is what passive-aggressive conduct entails. Passive-aggressive people frequently oppose requests or demands from family and other people by postponing, showing sullenness, or acting obstinately. And to understand who is being passive-aggressive, it is important to outline the major signs, including resentment and antagonism to other people’s demands, particularly those made by those in positions of power. Similarly, in reaction to others’ requests, there might be resistance to collaboration, a potential form of procrastination, and purposeful blunders to avoid doing work.

    On the other hand, passive behavior is the total opposite of aggressive behavior in general. Passive behavior is similar to submissive behavior, but the meaning is slightly different. The term “submissive” refers to meekly obedient or passive, whereas “passive” refers to someone who is submitted to action without creating a reaction. Hence, when you see someone giving no reaction at all to your activities, this highly suggests that you have encountered someone who is passive.

    In addition to that, aggressive behavior often leads to a lot of violent reactions, which is very much discouraged and not accepted in many workplace environments and often leads to being laid off from work itself.

    Overall, while passive, aggressive, and passive-aggressive have different sides and vary significantly, they aren’t usually encouraged in the workplace due to the unusualness they carry in the workplace and the very irregular awkwardness that is created of it.

    Assertive

    Assertiveness is defined as inspiring others to be transparent and upfront about their thoughts, desires, and feelings in order for both parties to act appropriately. The following are examples of assertive behavior: expressing wishes, thoughts, and feelings openly and incentivizing others to do the same. And such behavior is often encouraged in a workplace environment in order to ensure creative and meaningful work. Assertiveness often brings out the best in teams and individuals, which also positively contributes to the output, productivity, and overall efficiency.

    How do they work for remote and non-remote teams?

    While communicative styles are often more visible in non-remote jobs because the behavior can be easily traced, it may be difficult and inaccurate to judge someone who lives thousands of miles away simply because they once behaved in a certain way or sometimes do.

    To conclude

    Overall, we tried to put out the four most common communication behaviors in any workplace for your convenience!

  • Building Leadership Skills: Tips for Managers

    Building Leadership Skills: Tips for Managers

    There is hardly any employee who doesn’t expect their manager to be understanding, mature, flexible, and serious about work. A manager can quickly become a manager by controlling and commanding others. But to become ‘that’ manager, you need to attain leadership skills, and tell you what, it’s not an easy and fast job. But fear not, we went through and analyzed enough articles and stories of people to bring you the best possible tips for building leadership skills. Let’s take a look, Leadership? What’s that!  

    Let’s imagine person A is a manager making a decision on his own and implying it to his employees, commanding them to do the work. “A” doesn’t care about his employee’s opinions. Now let’s look at B, who is a manager too. “B” analyzes the situation and discusses it with his employee, tries to create harmony between goals and workers, and tries to motivate and guide them to do the job correctly.

    See the difference? What “B” has is called leadership skill. So have you gotten the idea of it? Let’s move on to the next topic,

    Tips for Managers to Build Leadership Skills

    To tell you the truth, leadership can’t be achieved the way you learn a new software because it is a learning process, and you’ll have to keep getting better. And it’s not as easy as it sounds. It requires certain abilities as a base. So, let’s give you some tips for building leadership skills if you’re a manager.

    Learning Habit

    Learning habits will lead you to acquire knowledge in your field. Opening the way to become the person with the best proficiency in their sector

    Communication Skill

    I used to think about the need to know about others and converse with every intellectual person I met? But it came to my realization when I saw my colleague has a finer understanding than me because he kept in touch with our senior manager. Communicating with others grants one experience without experiencing it. 

    Experience

    Well, this is not some skill that can be gained overnight, but if you keep in mind that” I have to gain experience to master my leadership,” your brain will automatically guide you to learn and look closely. Good or bad, experience is precious; otherwise, why do we value the opinion of someone who has been through it? You need to know what is best to steer the pack. Now, how to gain experience? The answer is by meaningful involvement in practicing leadership. Keep a close eye on what you lack and try to note it down. Try not to make the same mistake twice.

    Mentoring Skills

    This knowledge and experience will be in vain if you do not know how to illustrate, influence, and teach. And there is not one single method to teach someone which will work on anybody. The schooling method depends on whom you are helping to understand.

    Try to figure out their preferences, points of view, logic, and thoughts, and customize your lecture in compliance with that because, in this way, your word will reach them the best.

    Integrity

    One way to take place in people’s hearts is righteousness. Undeniably, if you are not the most honest, the one with the strong set of values, you might lose your chance then and there. You have to keep professionalism, honesty, and reliability to build a strong personality that will make people accept you. 

    Problem-solving

    I must’ve heard this word everywhere, but this is indeed one of the best skills. Critical thinking, analyzing ability, and research skill are all part of achieving problem-solving skills. The ability to untangle a tricky situation will make you a very reliable person, and you can get at the top of your game.

    I wish I could say,” These are all the skills you need to learn!” but in reality, you need much more than that, these are skills that you should be focusing on the most. Now jump to our next part,

    Tips for Mastering Leadership

    Work smart, not hard. Here are some tips to help you level up.

    Figure Out Your Leadership Style

    Yes, there are a few styles like the coach, visionary, autocratic, hands-off, democratic, etc. Try to know this by judging yourself, by asking others whether you always follow one kind of style or are you a mix of a few styles or can you switch to different styles according to the need? 

    Practice Leadership at Every Chance You Get

    Nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity. You don’t need to practice it only in your office. Try looking around, find a chance to practice it; to give it a try; otherwise, you’ll never know what you are capable of or not. As we know, “Practice makes a man perfect,” so find an opening to hone your learned skills!

    Make the Internet Your Best Friend

    Did you know there are tons of YouTube channels where you can learn new skills for getting better at leading? Front Line Leadership, Leadership Nudges are highly recommended.

    Take Feedback from Your Employee

    It’s easier to know what you lack by listening to others’ opinions and feedback about you which you couldn’t have spotted on your own. It’s beneficial both ways because it also makes an impression on others that you care about others’ emotions.

    Be Assertive without Being Disrespectful

    Talk and negotiate in a way that none gets offended but yet gets your point. Quite a handy thing if you master it. 

    Listen More

    Pay a bit more attention to others’ opinions, observe and analyze them. You’ll see a big difference.

    Keep a Diary with You

    Note down every relevant and essential work to stay organized and ahead of the game.

    Find an Idol

    So who do you idolize for having the best leadership skill? If you haven’t found it, you should.

    “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” ― Aristotle. It doesn’t matter where you are coming from it only matters where you are going. Just because you haven’t been a leader before doesn’t mean you can’t become one.

    Final Words

    Try your best to learn from your surroundings, communicate with your employee, connect with their emotions, inspire them, keep your emotional composure, gather experience, and keep doing it even if you master it someday. 

  • Employee Turnover: Main 12 Reasons for It

    Employee Turnover: Main 12 Reasons for It

    “Oh, I hate my job!” I bet you’ve seen a lot of people say that but ever heard your employees saying that? No, I believe. You never know why your employees are leaving because they never share their true problems through a resignation letter. What if something about your company needs to be figured out and solved? If not, it’s going to cost you a lot. We analyzed the experiences of a lot of employees to bring out these top causes of employee turnover.

    1. Clash with the boss                             

    Different people have different mindsets and thus different opinions. It can either cause clash or development depending on how it’s handled. “From day one, I felt like my boss hates me because he gives me so much more pressure than others. I work so hard, but I can never satisfy him. I’m working for the little payment I get, but this getting unbearable; I think I’ll leave my job and look for another, “said my co-worker two days before he left the job. 

    • Personal harassment, 
    • Toxicity
    • Nepotism, 
    • Lack of motivation, 
    • Lack of mutual understanding, 
    • Immorality 

    Harms the relationship with the boss.

    2. Complications with colleagues

    The percentage of leaving the job cause of a co-worker is low but not negligible as people usually don’t leave their job cause of it. We found a few cases like this.” My co-worker Jane was jealous of me. Continuously tried to sabotage me, my work, and if it went on, then I would’ve gotten into big trouble, which could hamper my career, so I’ll just leave the job.” Says one of the people we interviewed. When the workers are toxic, it’s hard to give their best as the situation gets uncomfortable and unprofessional for working. 

    • Harassing, taunting
    • Jealousy
    • Lack of respect
    • Unfair behavior
    • Lack of understanding, communication

    Can cause conflict among employees.

    3. Job isn’t meeting the expectation

    All a new employee knows about an organization is what’s written in the prospectus, website, circular, and the rest they realize after getting in. Sometimes the difference between expectation and reality is so big that they end up quitting the job.” The job description said I’ll teach only high-school students, but after I got in, I also had to take classes for the primary students, and they didn’t pay me as much as they promised.

    So I think I’ll change the job if this doesn’t change!” says a woman we talked with. Some might lose interest in their job because they are not getting to learn what they thought they would learn. For example, I quit working for an organization because I expected to gather some good experience and knowledge, but I ended up being used by them; the morality, the style of working, and the connection they had didn’t worth enough to waste my time on.

    4. Relevant job position

    Everyone has self-respect, and they want to establish that in their work field by working with a group of people that understands their ability and skills. A job where you can’t put your expertise into the work can make you lose interest faster than light. Because people gain their mastery by putting a lot of effort and looking for a field that can make it all worth it. If not, they focus on other places where they can flourish.

    5. Grass is greener on the other side

    One just can’t get into a job and boom! He/she is the most successful person in their field. The good thing takes time. It takes time and effort to get a hold of your responsibility, figure out the tips and tricks, connect with people, and get comfortable and trustable with your colleague’s boss. Sometimes one lacks patience and starts thinking about other jobs. 

    6. Provocation

    Employees from other industries, family members, friends, or it could be a stranger whose opinion on your work can make you lose all the hope. “This job of yours has no future actually, said my aunt once, and I started to doubt my decision. I didn’t leave my job, but at every inconvenience in my work, I remember her words, and it makes me feel helpless.” Said, my friend. Employees may be lured to other options and thus end up leaving the job.

    7. Office Culture

     “It was compulsory to follow the dress code, and it violated my morality and culture, so I had no choice but to leave,” stated a girl we contacted. Office Rules and regulations can cause trouble for employees if they are meaningless and not flexible. If a mother cannot take maternity leave, she’ll leave the job. 

    8. Insufficient salary

    Money is what our life depends on mostly. Call it greed or necessity, people will always be attracted to a higher salary, and they continuously fight for it. There is no chance one will stay if they’re paid high for their work elsewhere.

    9. It wasn’t a permanent job

    There is hardly someone who got into a job and stayed in it forever. Employees get into a company with various goals. Those who start to gain experience, connection, and recognition will never stay forever there, and it’s very normal. 

    10. To test one’s limit

    We develop ourselves by putting ourselves into challenging situations. Young, ambitious employees will look for more energizing work to thrive in their careers. And for this, they might resign from one job to get into another.

    11. Transportation

    The home-to-office passage is important if one’s not working from home. The reasons are,

    • Moving out
    • High transportation cost
    • Time-consuming transportation
    • Change of office location

    Many people will only leave their beloved job because it got difficult to get into the office in time.

    12. Other personal reasons

    Not feeling encouraged, job hampering personal work like study and exam, family problems, not like the work environment, accident, not feeling suitable enough for the job, not understanding the work and continuously failing, selfish work environment, seeing others leaving a job can cause one to send the resignation letter. 

    Losing two or three employees per month for a big company isn’t a big deal, but when a regular thing becomes, there might be something wrong with the system. Every owner starts off their business with a goal. They expect their employees to support by dedicating their time and effort. Still, it can get a bit chaotic if there is a sudden loss of workers because filling up their position to cover up the duties causes hassle; also, it can leave a bad impression on that company. 

    Final Thoughts

    Hope this article gave you an idea about what employees go through when they resign. The key to solving this issue is getting regular feedback from employees about their work and mental state and enabling a comfortable, understanding, dynamic work environment by keeping up with workers.

  • HR Software Solutions: Top 10 for Small Business

    HR Software Solutions: Top 10 for Small Business

    HR management саn be а difficult deраrtment tо mаnаge. Between hiring, оnbоаrding, sсheduling, benefits аnd соmрliаnсe, there аre dоzens оf resроnsibilities tо nаvigаte. Whаt if аn emрlоyee wаnts tо see аn оld РаyTub? Hоw dоes оne get infоrmаtiоn аbоut their vасаtiоn dаys оr benefits? Withоut the right teсhnоlоgy, it’s gоing tо be trоublesоme fоr everyоne invоlved. Thаt’s why sрeсiаlized HR sоftwаre hаs beсоme sо рорulаr. Businesses оf аll sizes аre using these HR software solutions tо imрrоve effiсienсy аnd emрlоyee management exрerienсe аt the sаme time.

    1. Sарling

    Sарling is а mаss орerаtiоns рlаtfоrm best suited fоr mid-mаrket соmраnies with distributed internаtiоnаl оffiсes. The tооl саn аutоmаte wоrkflоws fоr оnbоаrding, оffbоаrding аnd using рeорle’s dаtа in existing systems. Sарling аllоws users tо сreаte аutоmаted wоrkflоws fоr reсruitment аnd оnbоаrding. Teаm members саn аutоmаtiсаlly аssign wоrkflоws tо рeорle bаsed оn lосаtiоn, deраrtment, аnd emрlоyment stаtus. Sарling аllоws teаm members tо stоre аnd mаnаge рeорle’s dаtа аnd сreаte оrgаnizаtiоn сhаrts, аnd end-users саn сreаte рersоnаl рrоfiles. Sарling оffers nаtive integrаtiоn with mаny оther sоftwаre, inсluding аррliсаnt trасking systems, раyrоll sоftwаre, time trасking sоftwаre, аnd mоre.

    Рrоs

    • Fully сustоmizаble, аutоmаted wоrkflоw
    • Integrаtes with рорulаr tооls
    • Сentrаlized lосаtiоn fоr рeорle’s dаtа

    Соns

    • Nоt suitаble fоr smаll оrgаnizаtiоns
    • nо оn-рremises instаllаtiоn
    • nо free versiоn

    2. Mоndаy.соm

    mоndаy.соm is аn HR management software рlаtfоrm thаt аllоws HR teаms tо сustоmize аnd run аll their HR рrосesses аnd wоrkflоws with drаg-аnd-drор teсhnоlоgy.Аs саndidаtes gо thrоugh the reсruitment рrосess, teаm members саn uрdаte their аррliсаtiоn stаtus tо hаve а reаl time sоurсe оf truth fоr аll орen роsitiоns. mоndаy.соm аlsо inсludes а рre-built temрlаte fоr оnbоаrding, whiсh inсludes аll the sessiоns аnd reаding mаteriаl newсоmers need in their first weeks оn the jоb. The оnbоаrding temрlаte аlsо uses nо-соde аutоmаtiоn tо nоtify relevаnt teаm members аbоut their асtiоns in оrder tо рrорerly welсоme new hires. Аnоther greаt feаture is the Vасаtiоn Trасker, whiсh аllоws emрlоyees to use employee vacation tracker

    Рrоs

    • Сustоmizаble аnd sсаlаble wоrkflоws
    • Enterрrise-grаde seсurity with HIРАА сertifiсаtiоn
    • Сustоm dаshbоаrds uрdаte аutоmаtiсаlly

    Соns

    • Invоlves slight leаrning сurve
    • Mоbile арр isn’t аs fully funсtiоnаl аs web
    • Сertаin feаtures оnly аvаilаble in enterрrise расkаge

    3. Eddy

    Eddy is аn аll-in-оne HR management software built fоr lосаl businesses thаt streаmlines tediоus HR рrосesses аnd imрrоves emрlоyee exрerienсe. Eddy hаs grоwn rарidly due tо its simрle yet роwerful рrоduсts, tор-сlаss сustоmer serviсe аnd fосus оn lосаl businesses with а deskless wоrkfоrсe. With Eddy, businesses саn hire, оnbоаrd, mаnаge аnd раy emрlоyees with оne eаsy-tо-use sоftwаre. Key feаtures inсlude jоb роsting mаnаgement, trасking оf inсоming саndidаtes, аnd а full-sсаle аррliсаnt trасking system (АTS). The оnbоаrding system lets HR mаnаgement team сreаte сustоm оnbоаrding расkаges, аssign tаsks аnd соlleсt digitаl signаtures with eаse. Оne оf the mаin funсtiоns оf Eddy is рeорle mаnаgement – users саn ассess соmраny direсtоries аnd stоre imроrtаnt emрlоyee dосuments, nоtes оn рerfоrmаnсe, аnd trаining аnd сertifiсаtiоn in emрlоyee рrоfiles. Yоu саn аlsо сreаte сustоm РTО роliсies аnd ассeрt оr deсline requests; Tар intо their time trасking tооl, whiсh аllоws emрlоyees tо eаsily сlосk-in аnd сlосk-оut

    Рrоs

    • Lоw entry-level рer-emрlоyee соst
    • Eаsy tо use аnd intuitive
    • Rоbust self-serve helр dосumentаtiоn

    Соns

    • Раyrоll аnd АTS соst extrа
    • Nо free рlаn оr free triаl listed

    4. Sаge

    Sаge is knоwn tо mаnаge ассоunting, HR, раyments, аssets, соnstruсtiоn, reаl estаte, аnd enterрrise systems. They оffer сlоud sоlutiоns, оn-рremise, оr bоth. Their highly сustоmizаble sоlutiоns саn be tаilоred tо stаrtuр, sсаle-uр, аnd enterрrise соmраnies аlike. This sоftwаre exсels in trаining thrоugh their vаriоus wizаrds designed tо helр with eасh unique HR рrосess suсh аs entering new hires, trаining, раy rаises, jоb сhаnges, аnd mоre. Sаge рrоvides а соmрrehensive list оf first раrty аdd-оns thаt саn be used tо integrаte different sоlutiоns intо yоur HR management software wоrkflоw.

    Рrоs

    • Саn uрlоаd Exсel sheets intо раyrоll mоdule
    • Greаt new hire Wizаrds
    • Eаsy раyrоll histоry reроrts

    Соns

    • Nоt built fоr lаrge enterрrises
    • Nо employee self-serviсe software ассess
    • Requires mаnuаl exроrt tо sоme раyrоll systems

    5. Рeорle Streаm

    РeорleStreаm, develорed by Аsender, is аn internаtiоnаl humаn сарitаl mаnаgement аnd раyrоll sоftwаre соmраny sрeсiаlizing in the develорment оf teсhnоlоgy tо suрроrt humаn resоurсes initiаtives. It is used by brаnds suсh аs Аudi

    Рrоs

    • Аbility tо рersоnаlize resроnses tо саndidаtes
    • Раyrоll fоr соmрlex соnfigurаtiоn аnd requirements
    • Саn mаnаge а very high reсruitment wоrklоаd

    Соns

    • Limited сustоm brаnding орtiоns
    • Best reроrting feаtures limited tо higher рlаns
    • Inаbility tо identify sаme саndidаte twiсe

    Nоte: Оne disadvantage is thаt the dаtа саn be а bit triсky tо аssess аt а glаnсe, аs the internаl саndidаtes аre nоt identified оnly by number, nоt nаme аnd аre nоt flаgged in the event.

    6. HR Сlоud

    HR Сlоud delivers three integrаted sоftwаre sоlutiоns tо imрrоve the wаy yоu оnbоаrd, engаge, аnd mаnаge yоur emрlоyees: Оnbоаrd, Wоrkmаtes, аnd HR management team. Their sоlutiоns аre designed tо аutоmаte mаnuаl HR рrосesses, deliver аn enhаnсed emрlоyee exрerienсe, аnd mаnаge the entire emрlоyee lifeсyсle.

    The Оnbоаrd sоlutiоn hаs feаtures fоr аutоmаting mаnuаl оnbоаrding рrосesses, аs well аs feаtures fоr ensuring emрlоyees аre equiррed оn their first dаy аnd thrоughоut the оnbоаrding рrосess, suсh аs self-serviсe, emрlоyee рrоfiles, сustоmizаble new hire роrtаls, аnd сustоmizаble оnbоаrding wоrkflоws.

    HR Сlоud’s Wоrkmаtes sоlutiоn inсludes роwerful tооls tо helр remоte teаms соllаbоrаte, соmmuniсаte, аnd even reсоgnize аnd rewаrd their рeers. Feаtures here inсlude emрlоyee feeds, аnnоunсements, аn emрlоyee direсtоry, соmmuniсаtiоn аnd messаging tооls, аnd emрlоyee аnаlytiсs. Wоrkmаtes аlsо hаs а greаt feаture tо helр emрlоyees beсоme аdvосаtes fоr yоur business.

    Аdditiоnаlly, HR Сlоud’s HR softawre team рrоvides а number оf роwerful, рrоven HR sоlutiоns tо imрrоve the wаy of employees management lifeсyсle, inсluding рerfоrmаnсe mаnаgement, leаve trасking software, аnd а mоbile emрlоyee арр. It аlsо inсludes аdvаnсed reроrting feаtures, оrg сhаrts, аnd the аbility tо сreаte surveys tо соlleсt emрlоyee feedbасk.

    Рrоs

    • Сustоmizаble оnbоаrding wоrkflоws аnd сheсklists
    • Effeсtive emрlоyee reсоgnitiоn аnd rewаrd tооls

    Соns

    • HR Сlоud dоes nоt inсlude раyrоll
    • Nоt оriginаlly built fоr enterрrise businesses
    • Integrаtiоns аre lасking, but HR Сlоud соntinues tо develор new integrаtiоns

    7. Built Fоr Teаms

    Built fоr Teаms оffers intuitive, роwerful tооls designed tо helр yоu hire, mаnаge, retаin, аnd аnаlyze yоur wоrkfоrсe. Feаtures inсlude dаtа-driven оrg сhаrts fоr орtimized visuаlizаtiоn, streаmlined РTО trасking systems, аnd аррliсаnt trасking аutоmаtiоn.

    This tооl hаs а relаtively tаme leаrning сurve аnd even thоse whо аre nоt раrtiсulаrly teсh experts shоuld be аble tо mаke аmрle use оf it. Thus, it sсоred highly in the evаluаtiоn соnsiderаtiоns fоr Usаbility.

    Оne dоwnside tо nоte is thаt it is nоt сurrently роssible tо саnсel requests, like раid time оff tracking app, аfter they hаve been submitted in the system. The HR management teаm саn dо it but hаving this роwer in the hаnds оf the individuаl user wоuld be ideаl.

    Рrоs

    • Eаsy tо define а сustоm hiring wоrkflоw
    • Rоbust, dаtа-driven оrg сhаrt tооl
    • Ассurаte, flexible РTО trасking sоftwаre

    Соns

    • Limited “аwаy” stаtuses; nо сustоmizаtiоn
    • Саn’t see full саlendаr in the арр
    • Limited ОT trасking аnd reроrting

    8. VАIRKKО

    VАIRKKО is а web-bаsed fully-mоbile wоrkfоrсe mаnаgement аnd орerаtiоns mаnаgement рlаtfоrm оffering сlоud рrоduсts with сertifiсаtiоn trасking, оnline emрlоyee sсheduling, рersоnnel mаnаgement, e-Leаrning, HR, аnd mоre.

    Nоte: trаining соmes free with а рlаn.

    Рrоs

    • Brаnding сustоmizаtiоn, lоgо аnd соlоrs
    • Greаt fоr trасking СEU’s
    • Eаsily аdd unраid breаks intо yоur stаff’s time саrd

    Соns

    • Steeр leаrning сurve
    • Mоbile арр isn’t аs fully funсtiоnаl аs web
    • Using multiрle аdd-оns will greаtly inсreаse соst.

    9. Wоrkdаy

    Eаsily рlаn fоr, reсruit, аnd develор tаlent by using Wоrkdаy. Feаtures inсlude the аbility tо engаge yоur рeорle оn their рreferred deviсe, асtivаte business deсisiоns bаsed оn соntextuаl insight, аnd define аnd mаnаge business рrосesses.

    А highроint оf the sоftwаre is its flexibility tо mаnаge user-inрut сhаnge, everything frоm the аbility tо аudit сhаnge lоgs tо the аbility tо mаss resсind сhаnges, аnd sо оn.

    Рrоs

    • Intelligent рrосess аutоmаtiоn frоm аttrасt-tо-раy
    • Flexible оrgаnizаtiоnаl struсtures аnd mоdeling
    • Benefits аnd emрlоyee trаnsасtiоnаl dаtа in the sаme system

    Соns

    • Соmрlex gоаls аnd self-аррrаisаl рrосess
    • Рre-sсreening questiоnnаires аre nоt сustоmizаble рer jоb роsting

    10. РeорleBооkHR

    РeорleBооkHR is аn аррliсаtiоn bаsed sоlutiоn tо mаnаge yоur humаn resоurсes. It’s соmbined with а reроrting meсhаnism аs well аs а timely sоlutiоn tо uрgrаde аnd mоdernize yоur HR management teаm with tооls fоr time, аttendаnсe, аsset mаnаgement, аnd mоre.

    Оne оf the things this sоftwаre dоes best is mаnаging sаles mаde in the field; this tооl аllоws HR аdministrаtоrs tо eаsily trасk аny sаles reрresentаtive’s рerfоrmаnсe аnd then derive useful reроrts frоm the dаtа рresented.

    Рrоs

    • Inсludes inсident reсоrding аnd trасking
    • Mаnuаl оr uрlоаd inрut fоr time lоgs
    • Сreаte сustоmized раnel fоr emрlоyee reviews

    Соns

    • Slight leаrning сurve
    • Nо multi-linguаl suрроrt
    • Соmраrаtively high рriсing quоtes

    Соnсlusiоn

    Every business саn benefit frоm HR sоftwаre. This stаtement hоlds true regаrdless оf yоur соmраny size оr industry.

  • Employees Goals: How to Set them and Why It’s Important

    Employees Goals: How to Set them and Why It’s Important


    For any manager, knowing how to set employee goals is an essential job responsibility. By doing this, a supervisor can help employees better understand the company’s expectations of them, strengthen company positions, and improve coordination within the team. Setting employees’ goals can include multiple other advantages like:

    • Increasing employee engagement
    • Aligning employee’s work with the organization’s broader long-term and short-term goals
    • Setting criteria and guidelines for a successful staff performance review

    These are some considerations for setting goals in a workplace that can assist any company in optimizing their productivity and work environment.

    How to Set Employee Goals That Enhance Performance

    Make employees a part of the goal-setting process

    One mistake that many organizations make is setting employee goals top-down. Goal setting should be a collaborative effort in order to get input from employees and managers on what the company can do in order to create a peaceful yet stimulating work environment for its staff.

    As managers are constantly supervising their team, they have useful information which can help set benchmarks for the team. That being said, you cannot ignore the importance of including employees in this conversation.

    When an employee participates in the goal-setting process, they are more likely to be engaged in all activities regarding their performance from the start. As a result, they are more accountable to their actions.

    Set specific goals for consistent improvement

    What is the team vision, the ultimate business idea, or employee development blueprint? And how can your employees help you get there?

    When sitting down with your staff, make sure to supply them with important context. Once they are aware of company priorities and broader team goals, they can suggest more efficient goals that will be more impactful on business and individual performance.

    After you have set the goals, check with the employees regularly. Goals conversations cannot become a one-and-done job. They are to be considered an inseparable element of a continuous growth cycle.

    Select the correct kind of goal

    There are many ways to go about goal-setting. A super popular method in recent times is the SMART method. SMART is an acronym where each letter designates one of the 4 criteria set for a “SMART” goal. According to this philosophy, when employees concentrate in these 5 zones when setting goals, they increase their probability of success.

    S.M.A.R.T goals must be:

    • Specific: Focused and specific goals make for clearer targets. Your staff’s goals should clearly answer who, when, where, what, why, and how.
    • Measurable: If progress isn’t measurable, how can you know your efforts are bringing fruit? Set employee goals that are measurable, with defined milestones and metrics to track progress and define success.
    • Attainable: Never be afraid to reach for the stars but don’t forget reality in the process. Do your employees have access to the resources and tools required to make your vision a reality? Reaching for unachievable goals disengages and discourages employees when they cannot meet their goals. Make sure to set objectives that push employee boundaries without tearing them.
    • Relevant: Employee goals must align with broader business and team objectives. It’s your job to make your staff acknowledge those priorities. That’s when they will truly home in on the vision.
    • Time-bound: Without a deadline, no goal will yield the desired performance. Time constraints can drive performance as they develop a sense of urgency. Too little time can cause burnouts and too much time and reduce performance pace. Help your employees establish realistic and fair timeframes to achieve their goals. 
    • Align personal goals with business objectives

    The objective of employee goals is to move your company forward. What’s the sense of having employee goals if they aren’t related to your overall team and company goals?

    Share team objectives and corporate priorities with employees so they have a framework for creating performance targets. Goal alignment is critical as it guarantees that your staff is working toward goals that are relevant while driving engagement.

    Adjust goals and objectives in real-time

    Preferences change, team functions or dynamics shift, and suddenly your business goals from January are no longer relevant in April. That’s completely fine. Change is inevitable and normal in all spectrums of life. Your business’s fate is locked in how well you adapt to those changes while remaining effective and relevant.

    Check with your employees frequently (quarterly, at least) to ensure that their goals are related. Closely observe factors such as employee turnover, company changes, technology advancement or budget constraints that could influence goal alignment. After that, adapt goals as required in real-time to keep your team always aligned with goals and priorities.

    Why Settings Employee Goals Is Necessary

    Goals are the way organizations and people achieve faster, more, with less. When used correctly, they can be a powerful tool in your company.  Check out some of the biggest reasons you want to be careful with employee goal setting.

    Improved Alignment

    Goals unite employees, managers, and leaders around a common purpose. When employees understand organizational goals, they can align their team and personal goals to better achieve and exceed company-wide targets.

    Clear Direction

    Goals direct how employees invest their time, which tasks to finish, and how much effort they put into their job.

    Accommodative Planning

    Employees are motivated to plan when they have goals to work toward. If they have a good perception of a goal in mind, they are more likely to make and stick to a plan to meet it.

    Performance Motivation

    Goals inspire, encourage, and fuel increased performance. They invigorate employees and motivate them to persevere. When confronted with a goal, staff finds new ways to become resourceful, utilizing or searching for current information or obtaining new knowledge required to achieve.

    Better Evaluation

    Goals establish a defined roadmap and mechanism for assessing firm success by evaluating actual to intended performance.

    Conclusion

    Goal-setting is clearly advantageous in a number of ways, for individuals and businesses alike. A singular focus in the shape of a goal is not just to help individuals stay on course, but it also drives them more than variables such as monetary benefits.

  • Employees benefits in the USA: Complete Guide

    Employees benefits in the USA: Complete Guide

    Resettlement assistance, healthcare, medication, vision, and dental plans; health and dependent care flexible spending accounts; retirement benefit plans (pension, 401(k), 403(b)); group term life and long-term care insurance plans; legal assistance plans; medical second opinion programs, adoption assistance; child care benefits and public transit benefits; paid time off (PTO) in the form of holiday and sick pay; paid time off (PTO) in the form of holiday and sick pay; paid time off (PTO) in the form of sick pay, all of the previous are from the Employees benefits in the USA. 

    Healthcare and Insurances

    Certain large employers will face an annual penalty for each full-time employee not provided with affordable health insurance by the employer. The amount of the penalty may be reduced if the employer provides this coverage. If larger companies do not provide affordable insurance to at least 95 percent of their full-time employees and their dependents, they will be subject to an annualized employer “shared responsibility” penalties of $2,570 (indexed) per full-time worker (less the first 30 full-time employees in 2020). Companies may also be compelled through a negotiated collective bargaining agreement or employment contract to provide health insurance coverage to their employees.

    Holidays and Annual Leave are both required.

    Despite the fact that the US government recognizes a number of “national holidays,” there is no federal legislation requiring companies to grant time off for a holiday. Employers, on the other hand, are expected to give employees paid time off to honor national and local holidays. New Year’s Day, Memorial Day (late May), Independence Day (4 July), Labour Day (early September), Thanksgiving Day (third Thursday in November), and Christmas Day are examples of public holidays frequently honored by employers in private enterprise. Employees working on specified holidays are required by some states to be compensated at a higher rate.

    Similarly, no federal law forces firms to provide paid vacations to their employees. In practice, all employers provide paid vacation time to their employees. It could be as little as one week every year during the first few years to three weeks or more for long-term employees. Employees who are members of a labor union may be entitled to greater vacation time.

    Leaves of Maternity and Paternity

    Employee Benefit for the employers with fifty (50) or more employees within a seventy-five (75) mile radius have to provide employees with twelve (12) weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period for the childbirth or placement of children under the Family Law Act. Employees who are not covered by the FMLA may be entitled to maternity leave under state law. In addition, several jurisdictions offer half compensation during parental leave, and there appears to be a trend toward state-enacted family leave regulations.

    Leave of Absence for Illness and Disability

    Employees may be entitled to unpaid sick leave under the FMLA, which permits eligible workers to take up to twelve (12) weeks of unpaid medical leave in a twelve-month period if they are suffering from a serious health condition that prevents them from performing their job tasks. Regardless of the fact that there is no national law requiring companies to provide paid sick leave, a number of states, counties, and towns mandate employers conducting business within their borders to do so.

    Mandatory and Typically Provided Pensions

    Employers are not compelled to pay employee pensions or retirement benefits unless otherwise stated in a collective bargaining agreement or employment contract. Many American firms do offer some type of retirement benefit to their employees, most typically in the form of a retirement savings plan, sometimes known as a “401k” plan, which is a defined contribution plan called after the pertinent section of the Internal Revenue Code.

    Other Benefits That Are Required Or Typically Provided

    Additional benefits, while not compulsory, are generally provided depending on the size and industry of the company. Long-term/short-term disability insurance, health insurance, life insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, paid parental leave, commuting/travel help, and gym/wellness perks are all popular employee benefits in the United States.

    Qualified disaster relief payments made to an employee in the event of a national crisis are not taxed. Payments must be for fair and essential personal, family, living, or burial costs incurred as a result of a national calamity. Medical expenditures, childcare, and tutoring costs incurred as a result of school closures, as well as internet and telephone costs, are also eligible. It is not possible to replace lost salaries or revenue.

    Employee benefits supplied under ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) are not regulated at the state level like most insurance contracts, but employee benefit products delivered through insurance contracts are.

    ERISA, on the other hand, doesn’t really apply to government-sponsored plans, church-sponsored plans, and a few other instances.

  • Employee retention strategies: the ultimate guide

    Employee retention strategies: the ultimate guide

    What exactly is employee retention, and why is it so crucial to comprehend? Employee retention refers to the policies and procedures in place to encourage your staff to stay with your company. Every aspect of a firm has an impact on it, from salaries and benefits to office culture and employee satisfaction. The term “staff retention strategies” refers to the process of recording and reacting to data.

    It all boils down to money when it comes to staff retention. It can be costly and time-consuming to replace a large number of personnel who leave a company. The loss of talent and expertise can have a negative influence on the company’s operations and culture. Some turnover, on the other hand, can be beneficial. When individuals voluntarily leave a company, it might provide an opportunity to introduce new capabilities into the organization. 

    How do you figure out what your employee retention rate is?

    In most cases, the employee retention rate is expressed as a percentage. The better the retention rate, the larger the percentage. Follow the formula below to obtain the employee retention rate:

    First part

    (At the start of a certain time, the total number of employees) – (the number of employees who left during the period) + (the number of employees who remain at the end of the period)

    Part two

    (At the end of the time, the number of employees who remained)

    (total number of employees) + (percentage of retention)

    A decimal will display next to your retention rate. Multiply it by 100 to get the percentage.

    What is the difference between retaining employees, turnover, and attrition?

    Various terms refer to a company’s personnel volatility.  It can be hard to sure the difference at times. Employee turnover, for instance, functions similarly to employee retention. The number of workers who depart a company divided by the total number of people who work there is referred to as turnover. The turnover rate is calculated as a proportion of the total number of employees. Employee attrition, on the other hand, refers to a natural decrease in the number of employees, such as through retirement. These employees will not be replaced.

    The turnover rate differs from the employee attrition rate in that it represents the percentage rate at which a corporation replaces personnel. The attrition rate, on the other hand, reflects personnel who are not replaced. For example, a member of staff may decide to leave because business is slowing, and the company fills the position. Consider the employee turnover rate to be a stable or expanding workforce. Employee attrition results in a shrinking workforce.

    Employee turnover and attrition rate both quantify the number of employees that leave an organization. The retention rate, on the other hand, assesses a company’s efforts to reverse this pattern. The evolution of time. Employee retention is increasing, indicating that new policies and procedures are effective.

    Low retention rates

     As an example, many employees choose to leave their jobs.

    • The loss of consistency and experience limits the ability to execute daily duties.
    • Because of the time and resources required to recruit, onboard, and train new employees, it is estimated that it might cost up to twice the income of an employee who needs to be replaced.
    • Excessive employee turnover can encourage other talented employees to quit.
    • A high turnover of workers makes it difficult for the team to develop successful relationships.
    • Customers may notice a shift in the workforce, affecting service and company image.

    High retention rates

    i.e. many staff stays for an extended period of time.

    • Taking on new personnel can revitalise a company, leading to more innovation and acceptance of change. Long-term workers may get comfortable, resulting in poorer production.
    • Low productivity can have an impact on output, costs, and, eventually, profit.
    • Employees who have been with the same company for many years may not be learning new skills that will help the company grow.

     Schedule stay interviews

    If you’re not sure why your employees are leaving, schedule stay interviews with current employees to measure their job happiness.

    These interviews concentrate on what is important to your employees when they are looking for work. Because knowledge is power, you can learn that your staff prefers more flexible schedules. Perhaps they desire additional training or greater benefits. This is what the stay interviews are attempting to determine. Herman, on the other hand, advises you to make the most of your employee interview.

    “These conversations also provide an opportunity for employees to provide more open input on how their employer might improve.” Ask employees what might motivate them to look for a new job. What perks or bonuses have encouraged a buddy to quit their job? The first stage is to listen, followed by conversation and action.”

    After you’ve gathered all of this information, you’ll need to take action. Employees will have false hope if they believe you aren’t going to do something about their concerns, even if they express them. Employee engagement will increase if you listen to them and take action. Employees that are engaged are more likely to stay with you.

  • How to Stay Healthy While Working Remotely

    How to Stay Healthy While Working Remotely

    Working from home alleviates some of the day-to-day challenges you’d come across. For example, you don’t have to figure out your outfit for the day. Likewise, there’s no need to check the weather app for sudden downpours. However, it also comes with severe physical, social, and psychological challenges. Health tips include fitness fundamentals. You need to follow a nutritious diet and exercise regularly. People have switched to remote working over the last couple of years. It’s inevitable with the pandemic. This change has brought a sudden hike in productivity. But, unfortunately, people in traditional offices don’t deliver the same way. While this change is a boon to your company, you shouldn’t sacrifice your health in the process. Even minor interruptions are welcome in an office setting. Nothing prompts you to move away from your desk at home. In this article, you’ll learn how to stay healthy while working remotely. But first, let’s take a look at the challenges you’ll face.

    Challenges of Working Remotely

    Working from home has its own set of advantages. However, they come with a plethora of challenges. Here’s what you can anticipate:

    • Feel isolated
    • Struggle to stay motivated
    • Face numerous disruptions
    • Fail to find a work-life balance
    • Burnouts
    • Face poor eating habits
    • Minimal physical activity

    Despite the long list of drawbacks, you can still stay healthy while working from home. All it takes is some conscious effort. So let’s take a look at how.

    How to Stay Healthy While Working Remotely

    The challenges of working from home could be physical or psychological. It’s impertinent to maintain your health in these trying times. Here’s how you can make your work life at home easier.

    1.    Maintain a Healthy Diet

    It’s essential to focus on consuming nutritious food while at home. Try to incorporate fruits, vegetables, and whole grains into your diet.

    Experts say healthy food includes eggs, nuts, fish, beans, and lean meat. Try to limit food high in sugar, salt, and fat. It’s okay to indulge once in a while but avoid eating fatty cuts of red meat frequently.

    2.    Stay Hydrated

    It’s essential to stay hydrated. You need to drink fluids frequently. You’ll be susceptible to mood swings and constipation otherwise. So water should be your beverage of choice. However, coffee and tea (in moderation) work too!

    3.    Get Enough Exercise

    Exercise comes with a slew of physical and psychological advantages. You tend to feel positive. A short walk in your local area can elevate your mood. If you can, use a standing desk to avoid long hours of physical inactivity.

    4.    Create a Space for Optimal Comfort

    You should set up a home office that promotes good posture. It can help prevent back pain. The ideal office chair should come with armrests and allow you to rest your feet on the floor. Your hips and knees should be at a 90-degree angle.

    You can also add a cushion that helps the curvature of your back. The monitor should be an arm’s length away. And the top should be below or at your eye level. Larger font sizes also help reduce eyestrain.

    5.    Make Connections

    Working from home makes it challenging to nurture relationships. It’s hard to connect with your co-workers outside the office setting. But, on the other hand, it’s natural to socialize in an office setting.

    On the other hand, working from home compels you to work alone. Therefore, you should make an effort to initiate conversations with your coworkers. It doesn’t have to be about work only. Talk about the new changes or your day-to-day activities.

    Avoid loneliness by spending more time with your family or housemates. Eat meals together. Take out the board games. Watch a movie on Netflix. There’s so much you can do!

    6.    Practice Mindfulness to Avoid Stress

    Stress is inevitable whether you’re working in the office or at home. Mindfulness helps alleviate some of that stress. This practice asks you to pay attention to the present.

    You have to observe your surroundings without actively judging them. Mindfulness helps you increase your objectivity. You won’t be plagued with negative thoughts and get entangled in them. You’ll rise above it.

    7.    Walk Around

    People often get up several times a day in a traditional office. They grab a cup of coffee or say hi to their colleagues. Working from home somehow curbs that. You can simply ask someone to get you a cup.

    Everything is in smaller spaces. The distance is shorter too. You don’t end up walking often. If you work remotely, you’ll notice you end up sitting for more extended periods. You don’t have the same distractions as office workers do.

    It’s essential to go up and walk around. You should walk for at least 30 minutes a day. It’s highly recommended that you do! It helps reduce the risk of heart diseases.

    Take your furry friend out for a walk. Get a breath of fresh air. This break will rejuvenate you. Take an extended lunch break and go for a walk after your meal. Every minute counts!

    A walk clears your head and combats your lousy mood. It reduces anxiousness and depression. Your work won’t feel like a stump anymore. Get rid of all those mental blocks by walking.

    8.    Find a Work-Life Balance

    When people work remotely, it’s hard to differentiate between work and leisure. The thin line between work and life disappears. For this very reason, you should set boundaries. Have a dedicated space for work only. Get a room, if possible.

    Establish a concrete work schedule. Time boundaries will prevent you from overexerting yourself. Assign a lunch break for yourself. Scatter coffee breaks here and there.

    Remember to detach yourself from work after office hours end. Allow yourself to communicate with others around you. Everyone needs time to relax. Don’t take that away from you!

    Final Thoughts

    It’s easy to remain healthy while working remotely. All you have to do is adhere to these eight tips! Consume a nutritious diet, set a schedule, and exercise regularly. These three are essential. The rest will fall into place. Put your emotional well-being first. You’ll find yourself flourishing in no time!

  • Internship Programs: Tips for Successful Ones

    Internship Programs: Tips for Successful Ones

    Once you are done with your undergrad or almost about to finish your studies, you would surely start looking for a job for a stable life. That’s when internship programs enter your life. Before you finally land yourself in a complicated field of the corporate world, you start with a small sector of that world, that is internship.

    Internship programs are all about gaining experience in the particular job field you are intending to join, and even though this program is not tough, you still need to know the basics and the rules to do better here.

    Go through this article to know what an internship program is, why you should pursue an internship program, and what are useful tips would help you to be successful in this field.

    What Is An Internship Program?

    An internship program is a limited period of work experience that is offered by a company or any organization. Internship programs exist in different fields, such as non-profit organizations, businesses, or even governmental organizations.

    Usually, students get the opportunity to do internships as it is a field of learning, but the experienced ones also get to do internships in new fields as well. If you ask me what an intern actually does, then let me tell you, an intern usually works on tiny projects, learns about the place he is going to work in, exercises their skills, and learns new skills as well. Through internship programs, you might even land a permanent full-time job too.

    Internships are usually part-time. Some organizations offer paid internships, and sometimes unpaid internships, but mostly they would pay you.

    Different internship programs offer different facilities.

    Why are internship programs important? Yes, why? Because you need to work on your skills if you are going to do a job. At the same time, you would know which particular field would be better for you to join. If you take multiple internship programs in different organizations, it means you are getting to experience different corporate skills, and that is helping you to decide which path you want to choose. In easy words, internships help you to choose your career.

    What Makes A Successful Internship Program?

    Now, before you join in, how would you know that the company you have selected offers the best internship program? No, you don’t. This is why there are some factors that you need to observe during the internship period.

    These are the elements that will help you to understand the condition of the internship program:

    1.    Training:

    Training can be both formal and informal. The training is different in different organizations. The training is provided so that you can work on your skills. Now, you have to observe how helpful they are to you. Are they being friendly? Are they not providing enough material to help you understand the curriculum? Are they giving you excessive pressure with your work? During the training period, you would be given some resources which will help you with your work, and you have to observe how rich those resources are.

    2.    Professional Links:

    One of the major elements of an internship program is the professional development of that particular company. You need to see the links and connections that the company has with other organizations. The stronger the links of a company, the better the internship program, because the facilities are wide.

    3.    Opportunities:

    Internships programs where you only have to work can be pretty boring. You need to see what other opportunities you can find in these internship programs. The opportunities can be fun activities like bars, restaurants, outings, volunteering, and other official activities.

    4.    Reviews:

    Before you join in, make sure you have seen the reviews of the internship programs. You need to check the positive and negative reviews of the organizations before you fill in for the internship.

    These are the elements you need to know before joining the internship.

    Tips For Successful Internship Program:

    Before I give you the valuable tips on how to be successful in internship programs, let me tell you how you can find internship opportunities:

    1.    From University Campus:

    University campus is a fine place where you can get internship offers pretty easily. Your university might hold seminars where they will introduce you to new companies offering internships. You can even get internship news from your friends and classmates as well.

    2.    Stream Online:

    There are certain sites or social media pages which offer internships, and if you are familiar with these, you can contact them for the opportunity.

    3.    Newspapers:

    Not very useful, but newspapers can also provide headlines about internship opportunities.

    Now that you have the sources to find internship opportunities, it’s time for you to know how you can actually get those internships:

    • As soon as you start your undergraduate program, you better start looking for internships. The earlier you look, the more efficient it gets.
    • Prepare your CVs and resume for internships.
    • Train yourself for the interview.
    • Connect with people. Form a strong bond with them. It creates a network for you which might lead you to internship programs.

    Finally, it is time to give you the tips on how to be successful in internship programs:

    1. Befriend your coworkers. If you have a good relationship with them, they can help you out with the curriculum.
    2. Learn from your seniors and the professionals.
    3. Start working with a goal.
    4. Keep yourself busy, stable, and professional.
    5. Be organized, neat, and tidy.
    6. Be punctual.
    7. Work with ease and keep track of it. Make sure you don’t mess up with the projects you are working on.
    8. Take small breaks and don’t get too hard on yourself.

    Even if you get into internship offers, you might not work things out due to your lack of understanding of the whole curriculum. This is why I have provided you with tips on how to be successful in internship programs.

    Conclusion

    There are numerous challenges you might find in an internship program. But all you have to do is to be professional and deal with it by being extremely sensible. Workplaces vary, so do their facilities and activities, and so does their internship program, but your skills and patience will remain constant. I have provided all the details you would need to know to join an internship program and the tips to be a professional intern in corporate organizations.