Author: Gabby Davis

Gabby Davis is the Lead Trainer for the US Division of the Customer Experience Team. She develops and implements processes and collaterals related to the client onboarding experience and guides clients across all tiers through the initial implementation of Engagedly as well as Mentoring Complete. She is passionate about delivering stellar client experiences and ensuring high adoption rates of the Engagedly product through engaging and impactful training and onboarding.

Master Prioritization Skills to Boost productivity and Achieve More (Proven Frameworks)

The reasoning, arguments, and tools you use to decide which things to focus on and complete first are known as prioritization skills. Prioritizing one assignment could entail devoting more time and energy to others, even if you finish and deliver them all at once. When obligations seem limitless and time is scarce, skill prioritization becomes crucial. It enables the most efficient and effective utilization of your time, freeing both you and your team from less critical tasks that can be deferred.

Mastering prioritization allows you to bring order to chaos, significantly reduce stress, and navigate toward successful outcomes. However, this is easier said than done.

According to a report by Reclaim, a staggering 98.2% of people struggle with prioritizing tasks effectively​. This proficiency is particularly crucial when managing reprioritized work, as failing to apply prioritization skills may lead to being overwhelmed by conflicting requests, resulting in lower productivity and stress.

When deciding what tasks to focus on and guiding your team, you must consider the importance, time needed, scope, and order of tasks.

Factors That Influence Task Priority

Choosing which tasks to prioritize involves considering some criteria. Let us expand on these factors for a better understanding:

  • Urgency

Although it may seem apparent, the urgency with which tasks must be finished significantly impacts their priority. Tasks based on time-sensitive variables or those with specific deadlines usually rank higher on the priority list.

  • Impact

The priority assigned to a task is profoundly shaped by the potential advantages or drawbacks associated with completing or postponing it. Tasks garnering high priority are those capable of delivering substantial benefits or preventing significant issues.

  • Dependencies

The execution of certain tasks is contingent upon the completion of others, indicating interdependence among them. Consequently, prioritizing immediate tasks that serve as prerequisites for future ones can effectively mitigate potential workflow bottlenecks.

  • Needs of Clients or Stakeholders

Activities that directly affect clients, consumers, or stakeholders may be given priority since satisfying their requirements and standards is essential to preserving goodwill and client satisfaction.

  • Level of Effort

It is wise to focus on tasks that carry equivalent business impact but require less effort. Allocating more time and resources to tasks demanding greater effort but offering relatively less significance to the company may not be the most efficient use of resources.

Why are Prioritization Skills Important?

Skill prioritization in the workplaceLet us look at some reasons to understand the importance of skill prioritization:

  • Resource Optimization

Resources such as money, employees, time, and equipment are limited. Therefore, resource optimization is a smart option. It could entail delegating tasks to employees according to their skill sets or giving them the required tools or training.

Prioritizing skills for productivity thus involves assigning resources to people and projects with the highest return on investment.

  • Time Management

Prioritizing skills is highly important for surviving and thriving in a competitive workspace. They are required to meet deadlines and complete time-sensitive tasks. A good time manager keeps the team from burning out by not attempting to do everything simultaneously.

  • Stress Reduction

The sensation of overwhelm and uncertainty often arises when numerous tasks compete for your attention. In such moments, the potency of prioritization emerges as a valuable ally, alleviating some of the mental burden. Effective prioritization not only serves as a stress-relieving tool but also provides a structured pathway to address tasks coherently.

  • Quality Control

Efficiently prioritizing tasks helps team members dedicate sufficient time and attention to projects. This results in greater quality outcomes. Rushing through jobs can lead to errors and poor quality.

  • Professional Growth

Employees with good prioritization skills get more challenging tasks and rewards for performing well under pressure. Thus, they benefit from more opportunities and assignments. They have more chances for professional growth. This practice will motivate other employees to learn this essential skill and fulfill their tasks on time.

Also Read: 10 Professional Development Goals for Managers in 2024

  • Long-Term Planning

It’s important to note that not all tasks require short-term prioritization. Organizations can sustain their competitive edge and adapt to changing market dynamics by assessing long-term goals and distributing resources accordingly. Strategic planning and prioritization skills can help with long-term planning.

  • Adaptability

In the dynamic landscape of fast-paced firms, adaptability is paramount as the workplace continually presents new challenges. Those equipped with prioritization skills can adeptly navigate these challenges, seamlessly integrating them into their existing workload without losing focus.

Useful Skills Prioritization Frameworks

Here are some tried and tested frameworks that you can use in your workplace to help employees prioritize tasks:

The MoSCoW Method

The MoSCoW Method

Source

It stands for “Must Have, Should Have, Could Have, and Won’t Have.” This strategy is mainly used for project management. This framework’s various priority levels are:

  • Must Have: The activities in the Must Have category are essential to the project’s success. These must be finished before touching on other tasks.
  • Should Have: Items significant but unnecessary for the project’s success fall under the “Should Have” category. These tasks can be postponed if needed without compromising the project’s success.
  • Could Have: Tasks that are essential but not urgent are considered could-haves. “Could Have” duties include planning for upcoming projects or training for professional growth.
  • Won’t Have: Tasks that are not necessary and can be put off or removed completely fall under the “Won’t Have” category.

Eisenhower Matrix or Urgent-Important Matrix

eisenhower-matrix

Source

This concept divides jobs into four quadrants according to their priority and urgency:

  • Important and Urgent: Start working on these chores right away.
  • Not Urgent But Important: Put off some chores until later to avoid them becoming urgent.
  • Urgent But Not Important: Assign or find ways to reduce the time spent on these assignments.
  • Not Important and Not Urgent: Consider skipping or putting off these duties.

The Kano Model

The Kano Model

Source

A prioritization framework called the Kano Model assists team managers in ranking product features according to how they affect customer satisfaction. The model divides features into performers, delighters, and must-haves.

  • Must-Haves: Features that consumers demand from a product or service are known as must-haves. These are the basics that a product or a service is expected to have. 
  • Performers: Performance features improve customer happiness and the overall customer experience when implemented correctly. However, these features may not be necessary. 
  • Delighters: These are unanticipated features that excite and delight clients while setting your product apart from rivals.

Based on how each feature affects customer happiness, managers can first prioritize which items to work on using the Kano model. Managers can then decide where to allocate their efforts for the greatest impact by examining customer input and determining which features fit into each category.

RICE Ratings

It is one of the most popular and successful systems for task prioritization. The process involves evaluating tasks based on effort, confidence, impact, and reach.

  • Reach

This first aspect of RICE scoring describes how many users or people are impacted by doing a specific task. By analyzing its scope, managers can assess a task’s capacity to influence the organization’s objectives positively. High-reach tasks often have a greater impact on performance. They are prioritized over tasks with lower reach scores.

  • Impact 

The possible advantages of a task for the company or project are called impact in this context. Considering immediate and long-term consequences when utilizing RICE scoring is imperative. Prioritizing tasks with higher impact scores over those with lower scores is advised.

  • Confidence

Since confidence evaluates the degree of ambiguity surrounding the possible impact of a project, it is an important part of the RICE rating system. A high confidence score denotes a high degree of certainty in the project’s ability to produce the intended results. Prioritizing such projects with a high confidence score is wise. Managers can make data-driven decisions and efficiently allocate resources by including confidence in the RICE score process.

  • Effort

The labor, time, and materials needed to finish a job or project are all considered forms of effort. Projects with lower effort scores may occasionally be prioritized because they can be finished quickly and effectively.

ICE Rating Method

ICE Rating Method

Source

The ICE scoring model is one of the most often used frameworks for prioritization among managers. This methodology assists in task prioritization according to ease, impact, and confidence. Applying the ICE model in a group context is simple. It finds time-efficient, high-impact, low-effort jobs that balance long-term and short-term objectives.

A task’s impact, confidence, and ease scores are multiplied to get the ICE score. With this approach, managers can ensure that resources are used effectively while concentrating on the most important tasks that improve team performance.

Summing Up

Prioritization stands as a critical practice for numerous reasons, encompassing resource optimization, time management, stress reduction, and quality control. The art of prioritization entails the judicious selection of tasks, considering factors such as urgency, importance, impact, stakeholder needs, effort, and strategic alignment.

A plethora of effective prioritization frameworks are available to managers, serving as valuable tools to ensure tasks align seamlessly with goals and resources, thereby fostering successful outcomes.

Experience the power of effective performance management with Engagedly! Discover how our platform might help your organization streamline goal setting, feedback, development, and more. Request a demo today.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • How do you demonstrate prioritization skills for employees?

Demonstrating prioritization skills for employees involves setting clear expectations, establishing task priorities, providing guidance on time management, offering resources and tools for task organization, and leading by example through effective prioritization in your own workload.

  • What is the purpose of prioritization?

Spending time on the vital tasks that will matter in the long term and directing your efforts toward goal achievement is the purpose of prioritization. When you prioritize effectively, you’ll feel less reactive and more focused and intentional.

  • How can the ability to prioritize help with resource optimization?

Allocating scarce resources, such as time, money, personnel, and equipment, to assignments that provide the most value or return on investment helps with prioritization skills. It results in increased efficiency and productivity.

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How is AI Reducing Remote Work Burnout and Enhancing Well-Being?

Flexible work arrangements, especially working from home, are very common in the present generation. However, such a change presents new issues. A recent survey revealed that 53% of managers are burnt out. This statistic is rather worrisome and underlines that finding proper interventions for remote employees requires immediate attention.

As you grapple with these challenges, a powerful ally has emerged: AI—Artificial Intelligence. But how can AI help with burnout in remote work conditions? Here are some ways AI is transforming the remote work environment and supporting your employees.

Ways AI Reduces Remote Work Burnout

1. Workload Management and Task Automation

In the sphere of working from home, AI’s use in burnout prevention is a breakthrough. Perhaps the most notable area of AI’s contribution to mitigating burnout is by helping you manage workloads and automate tasks.

AI-assisted solutions can automate several monotonous activities that tend to cause burnout, including:

  • Data entry and processing
  • Email sorting and prioritization
  • Basic customer service inquiries
  • Scheduling and calendar management

Thus, AI helps save your employees a lot of time and mental effort, allowing them to devote more energy to critical and creative tasks.

In addition, AI’s capacity goes beyond mere mechanization. Sophisticated AI systems can study workload distribution among teams and departments and detect possible load concentration or uneven distribution.

This analysis helps distribute the workload so that no employee is overwhelmed. For example, AI can:

  • Assess individual workloads and capacity
  • Identify tasks that could be reassigned or delegated
  • Suggest optimal task allocation based on skills and availability

This intelligent workload management significantly reduces the risk of burnout by preventing work overload and promoting a more balanced, sustainable work environment for your team.

2. Smart Scheduling and Time Management

AI excels in managing time, which is essential for avoiding burnout. AI-based scheduling solutions are not just limited to calendars but consider different aspects of scheduling for remote workers. These tools consider:

  • Individual work patterns and productivity peaks
  • Team availability and time zones
  • Project deadlines and priorities

By taking these factors into account, AI can suggest optimal meeting times that minimize disruptions to focused work periods. This smart scheduling helps maintain productivity while reducing the stress associated with constant context-switching.

Furthermore, AI assistants can act as personal time management coaches for your employees. They can:

  • Send reminders for scheduled breaks
  • Suggest ideal times for deep work sessions
  • Prompt employees to step away from screens and engage in brief physical activities

These AI-driven interventions improve work productivity and ensure employees take necessary breaks, which are crucial to their health and well-being in a work-from-home environment.

3. Personalized Support and Mental Health Resources

One of the most creative uses of AI in remote work is offering employee assistance programs and mental health services.

Chatbots and virtual assistants based on AI technology provide constant support and represent an anonymous line through which employees can report issues or get advice at any time. These AI systems can:

  • Analyze communication patterns and sentiment in written communications
  • Monitor work hours and productivity fluctuations
  • Detect changes in behavior that might indicate stress or burnout

Based on these insights, AI can offer tailored interventions. For instance, it might:

  • Suggest stress-reduction techniques like guided meditation or breathing exercises
  • Recommend relevant articles or resources on managing work-related stress
  • Connect employees with appropriate mental health professionals if needed

These AI-driven initiatives have proven to be highly effective. They help reduce burnout and enhance overall well-being and productivity.

Also Read: How Global Companies Can Attract and Retain Their Top Talent in 2024

How AI Enhances Remote Work Well-being

1. Improved Communication and Collaboration

Interpersonal communication and cooperation are significant in telecommuting for team cohesiveness and worker satisfaction. In this context, AI has a major impact on improving these aspects of remote work.

Automated translation tools are making communication easier in multicultural organizations. These tools can:

  • Provide real-time translations during video calls
  • Translate written communications instantly
  • Offer culturally appropriate suggestions for communication

This capability enables all team members to communicate and collaborate effectively in their language of comfort, making the work environment more effective for you.

AI-facilitated virtual meeting platforms are also revolutionizing team interactions. These platforms use AI to:

  • Generate automated meeting notes and action items
  • Track participation levels and ensure equal speaking time
  • Analyze sentiment during meetings to gauge team morale

These features contribute to productive meetings and allow you to notice emerging problems that, if left untreated, may turn into severe issues causing burnout.

2. Personalized Learning and Development

AI is revolutionizing how your employees learn and train for their jobs in remote environments, which is essential for keeping morale up and turnover down. Based on their skills, performance history, and career aspirations, AI can construct personalized learning trajectories.

This tailored approach ensures employees receive the following:

AI-powered coaching platforms take this a step further by offering real-time feedback and performance insights. These tools can:

  • Analyze communication styles in emails and virtual meetings
  • Provide tips for improving presentation skills
  • Offer writing suggestions for clearer and more effective communication

This continuous, personalized feedback helps employees improve their professional skills, boost confidence and job satisfaction — key factors in preventing burnout — and maintain good health and well-being.

3. Work-Life Balance Promotion

It is important to avoid being overworked to prevent burnout, which is a common problem in remote work environments where the boundaries between work and home can blur. AI is emerging as a useful tool in promoting this balance.

AI assistants can help manage personal tasks, such as:

  • Scheduling personal appointments
  • Organizing to-do lists
  • Setting reminders for personal commitments

By taking on these tasks, AI reduces the mental load on your employees, allowing them to focus better on work during work hours and disconnect more easily during personal time.

Additionally, AI tools can analyze employees’ communication and work patterns to solve problems regarding work-life balance. For example:

  • If employees frequently email during their free time, AI may recommend time constraints
  • If employees have not moved for several hours, AI could suggest they get up from their desks
  • If employees’ work patterns exhibit overwork tendencies, AI could notify HR or recommend ways of managing their workload

According to a study, 86% of remote employees have experienced high levels of exhaustion, emphasizing the need for AI interventions to manage work-life balance more effectively.

Also Read: How Does Generative AI Hep in Enhancing Employee Experience?

Potential Concerns and Considerations

Despite AI’s positive impacts on diminishing burnout and increasing well-being, certain considerations should be made. Some employees may be concerned about losing their jobs or their privacy being invaded through AI use.

It is important to stress that AI is not an enemy seeking to depose your employees and take their jobs but a tool that assists them and you as employers. Organizations should be transparent about how AI is used and ensure employee data is protected. The idea is to have AI as an assistant to optimize the work process, not to have a fully automated workforce.

Conclusion

As you’ve explored, AI is revolutionizing the concept of working remotely, particularly in the fight against burnout and the promotion of well-being. From assigning tasks and organizing working hours to offering individual assistance and encouraging a healthy lifestyle, AI is transforming remote work.

As leaders, you may wonder how AI will impact remote work settings. Incorporating Artificial Intelligence into your organization’s operations makes it possible to design and implement a positive, effective, and sustainable remote workplace. This benefits individual employees and directly impacts the success of your organization in terms of productivity and employee retention.

While remote work still poses some challenges, the integration of AI can be seen as a solution to a healthier work life. By embracing these technologies responsibly and thoughtfully, you can harness AI’s full potential to create remote work environments where your employees don’t just survive but truly thrive.

Remote Workforce

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Can AI really detect signs of burnout in remote workers?

Yes, AI can analyze various data points such as work patterns, communication habits, and even written sentiments to identify potential signs of burnout in remote workers.

Q2. In what ways does work-life balance benefit from AI in a remote environment?

AI promotes work-life balance by optimizing schedules, suggesting breaks, managing personal tasks, and analyzing work habits to encourage healthy boundaries between work and personal time.

Q3. Can artificial intelligence pose a danger of replacing human labor in remote work areas?

While AI automates certain tasks, its primary role is to augment human capabilities, not replace them. AI is designed to support employees and improve their work experience, not to eliminate jobs.

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Leveraging Gamification for Enhanced Employee Training and Development

Gamification is a powerful tool for enhancing employee training and development. Studies have shown that 89% of employees report that gamification enhances their sense of productivity in the workplace.  

It allows new employees to progress at their own pace, choose their learning paths, and receive targeted feedback based on their performance, which can cater to diverse learning styles and preferences. 

This personalized approach enhances the effectiveness of training programs by ensuring that content is relevant, engaging, and impactful for each participant. So, let’s explore how gamification can revolutionize your organization’s training programs.

Understanding Gamification in the Workplace

Gamification is more than just a buzzword; it’s a dynamic approach that infuses game design elements into training programs. By incorporating features like points, badges, leaderboards, and challenges, gamification transforms mundane learning experiences into engaging, interactive tasks. Imagine turning compliance training into an event where employees eagerly tackle challenges and earn rewards.

The concept of gamification isn’t new. It draws inspiration from game theory, behavioral psychology, and good old-fashioned fun. Remember those gold stars you received in elementary school for taking a spelling test? That’s a basic form of gamification! Organizations worldwide are leveraging this approach to boost employee engagement and knowledge retention.

The Need for Enhanced Employee Training

Our workplaces are evolving faster than ever. Remote work, hybrid models, and rapid technological advancements demand adaptable employees. Employees can benefit massively from new forms of corporate training that address the issues in a modern workplace. Traditional training methods struggle to keep up with these changes. Enter gamification—a fresh approach that aligns with modern work dynamics.

Learning isn’t a one-time event; it’s a lifelong journey. Gamification encourages continuous learning by making it enjoyable. When employees actively participate in their development, they become more agile, innovative, and resilient. 

Let’s face it: PowerPoint presentations and lengthy manuals don’t always cut it. Employees zone out, and knowledge retention suffers. Gamification injects life into training, making it memorable and impactful.

Benefits of Gamification in Employee Training

Gamification has many benefits across various industries and can be a valuable tool for problem-solving. 

Here, we will cover a few of the significant benefits gamification has for employee training: 

  • Increased Engagement and Motivation: The reward system in gamification makes learning enjoyable. Employees willingly dive into training modules fueled by the desire to earn points, unlock achievements, and climb leaderboards. It’s like turning work into a captivating game.
  • Real-time Feedback and Performance Tracking: Gamified platforms provide instant feedback. Employees know where they stand, identify areas for improvement, and adjust their strategies accordingly. No more waiting for annual reviews!
  • Enhanced Knowledge Retention: When learning feels like play, information sticks. Gamification taps into our brain’s reward centers, reinforcing memory pathways. Say goodbye to forgettable training sessions.
  • Collaboration and Team Building: Competing with colleagues in friendly challenges fosters teamwork. Whether it’s solving puzzles or collaborating on virtual quests, gamification strengthens bonds among employees.
  • Fueling Healthy Competition: Within the gamification of employee training, leaderboards emerge as powerful motivators. Suddenly, learning becomes a race—a friendly competition where you strive to climb higher, earn more points, and secure your spot at the top. But it’s not just about bragging; leaderboards foster healthy competition. 

Implementing Gamification: Best Practices

There are a few best practices to take into account when deciding to implement gamification in a company. Below are a few best practices that can aid in the implementation of gamification into employee training

  • Assess Training Needs and Objectives: Understanding your organization’s unique requirements before diving into gamification. What skills do employees need? What goals should they achieve? Align gamified content with these objectives.
  • Design Engaging Modules: Create bite-sized, interactive modules. Use storytelling, scenarios, and relatable characters. Remember, learning should be fun, not a chore.
  • Choose the Right Tools: Explore gamification platforms and tools. Look for user-friendly interfaces, customization options, and analytics capabilities. Your L&D team will thank you.
  • Integrate with Learning Management Systems (LMS): Seamlessly blend gamified content into your existing LMS. This ensures a cohesive learning experience and easy tracking of progress.

Goal Setting Module

Challenges and Considerations

Leveraging gamification for employee training and development can be highly effective, but it also comes with its own set of challenges and considerations. Here are some key points to keep in mind:

  • Resource Intensiveness: Developing a comprehensive gamified training program can be resource-intensive. It requires careful planning, design, and possibly the integration of new technologies or platforms.
  • Robust Design: Successful implementation of gamification in training requires thoughtful design. It’s not just about adding game elements to existing programs; it’s about integrating them to align with learning objectives and organizational goals.
  • Employee Buy-In: Not all employees may immediately embrace gamified training. Some might be resistant to change or skeptical about the effectiveness of gamification. Ensuring employee buy-in and addressing any concerns is crucial.
  • Effective Communication: Clear communication about the purpose and benefits of gamification is essential. Employees must understand how gamified training will enhance their learning experience and contribute to their professional growth.
  • Navigating the Platform: Employees should receive proper training on how to navigate the gamified training platform. This includes understanding game mechanics, earning points, and unlocking achievements.

Gamification Platforms to Get You Started

The following platforms can help you set up your employee training and development. These platforms will help gamify your training and keep employees engaged.

Engagedly 

Engagedly’s gamification features add an engaging element to the workplace. The platform helps to increase engagement and motivation among employees. Engagedly incorporates points, badges, and leaderboards to create friendly competition in the workplace. 

Employees earn points by completing tasks that are aligned with company values. This can help encourage participation and recognition within a company. Engagedly’s feature set creates an engaging work environment, enhancing employee motivation and satisfaction.

The platform also has a gamified HR platform that provides valuable insights for data-driven decisions. The implementation of gamified goal-setting ensures seamless alignment between individual and company-wide objectives.

Brame

Brame is a gamification marketing platform that empowers businesses to engage with customers. With Brame, you can create interactive experiences using their no-code builder that can increase employee engagement. 

This platform has leveled up promotions, loyalty programs, and data collection by incorporating gamified elements. Brame enables businesses to stand out, generate high-quality leads, and increase customer loyalty by leveraging features like points, badges, and leaderboards. 

Brame can also be used in employee training and development. When applied to employee training, their gamification tools can help shorten the time it takes for new employees to get up to speed with new information on projects, and they can be used to help verify employees’ skills.

EdApp

EdApp enables users to develop engaging training modules seamlessly. Their cloud-hosted authoring solution facilitates the creation of comprehensive courses spanning various subjects such as diversity and inclusion, leadership, and anti-bullying training. 

With an extensive array of more than 80 interactive e-learning templates, games, and quizzes, EdApp ensures employees a dynamic and enjoyable learning experience. Users can integrate gamification features like drag-and-drop, sequencing, and true or false, among others, to enhance engagement. 

Incorporating leaderboards fosters healthy competition, while customized achievements offer personalized rewards aligned with training objectives. EdApp’s platform is readily accessible with a free initial setup, effortlessly catering to diverse training needs.

Gametize

This enterprise-level gamification platform streamlines employee onboarding and training. Gametize helps transform learning materials into engaging e-learning courses. 

You can choose from an extensive library of game templates, categorized by employee engagement, learning and development, talent acquisition, and health and fitness topics.

Final Word 

Gamification holds immense potential for enhancing employee training and development in the modern workplace. Engagement, motivation, and collaboration in gamified training programs empower employees to acquire new skills, drive performance, and contribute to organizational success. 

As businesses continue to embrace digital transformation and adapt to evolving workforce dynamics, gamification will undoubtedly shape the future of employee learning and development.

When employees embrace gamification in training, organizations can unlock possibilities and create a thriving culture of continuous learning and growth. As we embark on this journey towards a gamified workplace, let’s harness the power of play to unleash the full potential of our workforce and drive sustainable business success.

Talent Management

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How to Develop a Growth Mindset to Learn from Your Startup Failures?

Embracing failures, whether small setbacks or a complete startup shutdown, has become an inherent part of the entrepreneurial journey. Startups are often associated with challenges and setbacks, but the key lies in maintaining the right mindset and unwavering belief in your business. In the face of failure, viewing it as an opportunity for growth becomes essential. A growth mindset, characterized by an eagerness to tackle challenges and see failure as a stepping stone to personal development, is crucial for entrepreneurs. This post explores the significance of acknowledging mistakes in the startup journey and outlines strategies to cultivate a growth mindset, enabling entrepreneurs to glean valuable lessons from failures.

What is a Growth Mindset?

A growth mindset involves approaching tasks with the belief that continuous improvement and perpetual learning are fundamental. Those with a growth mindset understand that progress is achievable through dedication, effort, and strategic decision-making. Individuals embracing this mindset are proactive and demonstrate effective decision-making skills, unfazed by setbacks or obstacles that may arise.

Despite variations in natural abilities, interests, personalities, and other traits among individuals, the growth mindset asserts that everyone has the capacity to develop and advance.

Also read: 6 Proven Ways To Keep Your Team Engaged At Work!

How to Develop a Growth Mindset in Startups?

Many aspiring entrepreneurs possess a development attitude but struggle with the motivation to act on it. To ensure the success of a startup, constant motivation and innovation are essential. Maintaining a growth mindset is crucial, even in the face of failure. Let’s delve into the various methods of cultivating a growth mindset.

  • Embrace Failure

Embracing failure is a crucial step towards success in any business. It’s important to acknowledge that both success and failure are part of the process. Rather than allowing failure to discourage you, view it as an opportunity for growth and learning.

When you make a mistake, take ownership of it without making excuses or pointing fingers. Analyze the factors that contributed to the failure, understand its impact, and identify key lessons learned. Develop an action plan to rectify the error or prevent it from happening again. Lastly, let go of any regret or guilt and focus on the positive aspects of your experience.

Employee Engagement
Also read: 5 Employee Engagement Statistics To Be Aware of in 2023

  • Seek Feedback

Creating and supporting a work environment that values constructive criticism is crucial. Encouraging open communication among stakeholders, mentors, and peers fosters a culture that emphasizes growth and progress. Feedback enables learning from mistakes, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and enhancing performance.

Actively seeking and acting upon criticism and guidance demonstrates a commitment to personal and professional development. It opens up opportunities to learn new approaches and gain new perspectives by listening to others with an open mind.

  • Focus on the Things You Can Control

Cultivating a positive and passionate mindset can significantly enhance not only your personal well-being but also positively influence those in your immediate surroundings. It is crucial to redirect your energy away from unproductive pursuits, such as passing judgment on colleagues or engaging in discussions about aspects like the national economy over which you have no direct influence.

Numerous startup failures can be attributed to external factors, despite everything else being seemingly perfect. Hence, it is paramount to focus your attention on facets within your control. Channel your efforts into daily improvements in both your personal and professional realms. By concentrating on manageable aspects of your life, you pave the way for a more resilient and fulfilling journey toward success.

Also read: Qualities of a Good Manager: 10 Important Skills You Need

  • Embrace Continuous Learning

A growth mindset thrives on a commitment to continuous learning. Acknowledge that the journey of entrepreneurship is dynamic, and staying informed is key to adaptation and innovation. Actively seek out new knowledge, trends, and industry insights. Engage in professional development opportunities, attend workshops, and stay connected with industry networks. Embracing a mindset of continuous learning not only enhances your skill set but also equips you with the agility needed to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of startups.

  • Nurture Resilience and Persistence

In the realm of startups, resilience and persistence are indispensable companions on the path to success. Recognize that setbacks are not roadblocks but rather stepping stones toward growth. Embracing a growth mindset involves understanding that challenges are an inherent part of the entrepreneurial journey. Cultivate resilience by bouncing back from failures with an unwavering determination to overcome obstacles.

Persistent effort in the face of adversity is a hallmark of a growth mindset. Instead of viewing difficulties as insurmountable, break them down into manageable steps and persistently work towards solutions. Understand that success often requires time, iterative processes, and a refusal to be deterred by initial setbacks. By nurturing resilience and persistence, you not only weather the storms of entrepreneurship but also pave the way for enduring success and continuous improvement.

Why is a Growth Mindset Important?

Individuals who embrace a growth mentality are more likely to accept criticism and feedback constructively, using them to enhance their work. Microsoft serves as an example that further supports the effectiveness of a growth mindset. After Satya Nadella took on the role of CEO in 2014, he initiated a cultural shift within Microsoft that prioritized growth, focusing on becoming the leading platform for cloud computing, AI, machine learning, and other cutting-edge technologies.

The following explains the significance of a growth mindset for your success:

  • Boosts Your Motivation

Having a growth mentality means embracing the notion that nothing is too difficult or unattainable. It recognizes that progress can be made at any point in the journey. With a growth mindset, you’ll be motivated to work harder and achieve your goals, with your cheerleader.

Also read: Streamline Learning Automation With Engagedly

  • Makes You Believe in Yourself

Achieving success in work often relies on your willingness to embrace new responsibilities and step out of your comfort zone. If you doubt your capabilities in a specific task, you will naturally encounter challenges in managing multiple tasks simultaneously, which may lead to giving up or delegating work that you could have completed independently.

On the contrary, adopting a growth mindset and having confidence in your abilities will likely motivate you to take on additional duties and responsibilities. Emphasizing the positive aspects of your skills and expressing your belief in them can also inspire others.

  • Greater Cooperation and Communication

Cultivating a growth mindset can help a team collaborate and communicate more effectively. It enables group members to be open to one another’s opinions despite differences. Team members with a growth attitude are more likely to explore things, ask questions, look for opportunities for growth, and support a positive growth culture.

Additionally, a growth mentality fosters mutual respect and trust among team members. They are more inclined to contribute to the group and take responsibility for their job when they believe in their abilities.

  • Enhances Endurance 

Facing and learning from failures is crucial for both individual and professional development. We may build resilience by embracing a growth mindset, which empowers us to take on obstacles confidently and improve on our mistakes. By adopting this strategy, entrepreneurs can improve their ability to recover from setbacks and discover the drive and determination needed to run a startup.

Also read: Unveiling AI’s Power and Limits for Fairer Hiring

Summing Up

Building a growth mindset within your startup entails creating a team of individuals who align with your vision and embrace the growth potential even in the face of failure. Embracing startup failures as opportunities for advancement and prosperity is a key aspect of cultivating a growth mindset. Individuals and organizations that foster a developmental mindset are better equipped to tackle obstacles and exert additional effort to achieve success.

Learning and Development

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Why is a growth mindset important for an entrepreneur?

A growth mindset is crucial for an entrepreneur because it fosters adaptability, resilience, and a willingness to learn from failures. Entrepreneurs with a growth mindset view challenges as opportunities for development, embrace learning, and believe in their ability to improve. This mindset helps them navigate uncertainties, overcome obstacles, and ultimately contributes to long-term success in the dynamic and ever-evolving world of entrepreneurship.

  • How does a growth mindset help in overcoming obstacles?

A growth mindset helps overcome obstacles by fostering a positive attitude toward challenges, promoting resilience, and viewing setbacks as opportunities for learning and improvement. It encourages adaptability and a proactive approach to problem-solving.

  • How does a growth mindset help in personal development of a leader?

A growth mindset aids a leader’s personal development by fostering a continuous learning attitude, resilience in the face of challenges, and a proactive approach to improvement.

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What Is Digital Accessibility? Why Is It Important for Hybrid and Remote Workplaces?

Digital accessibility, the latest workplace trend, has gained significant momentum in recent months. With the shift towards remote and hybrid work settings, companies are adopting various technologies to ensure that their products, information, and resources are accessible to all employees, including those from diverse backgrounds and with disabilities.

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected and more people enter the digital landscape, accessibility will play a crucial role in organizations aiming to maximize the potential of their workforce. Continue reading to explore digital accessibility further and discover effective measures for its implementation in a modern work environment.

What is Digital Accessibility in a Workplace?

Digital accessibility in the workplace refers to the inclusive design and implementation of digital technologies and content that allows all individuals, including those with disabilities, to access, use, and interact with digital resources effectively. It ensures that digital tools, platforms, websites, documents, and applications are designed and developed in a way that accommodates diverse needs and abilities. Key aspects of digital accessibility in the workplace include:

  • Web Accessibility: Ensuring that websites and web applications are designed to be navigable and usable by individuals with disabilities, including those using screen readers or other assistive technologies.
  • Document Accessibility: Creating digital documents, such as PDFs and presentations, in a way that allows individuals with visual or cognitive impairments to access and understand the content.
  • Software and Application Accessibility: Designing and developing software and applications with features that cater to individuals with varying abilities, such as customizable fonts, color contrasts, and keyboard navigation options.
  • Communication Accessibility: Providing accessible communication channels, including closed captioning for videos, alternative text for images, and accessible formats for written materials, to ensure effective communication for all employees.
  • Hardware Accessibility: Ensuring that workplace hardware, such as computers and peripherals, is designed with accessibility features, like larger fonts, adjustable contrast, and tactile indicators, to accommodate different needs.
  • Training and Awareness: Conducting training sessions to raise awareness among employees about digital accessibility principles and practices, fostering a culture of inclusivity and understanding.

Digital accessibility in the workplace is not just a legal requirement in many regions but also a crucial aspect of creating an inclusive and equitable work environment. It allows employees with disabilities to fully participate in various aspects of work, promoting diversity, equity, and a more productive and supportive workplace for everyone.

Why is Embracing Digital Accessibility Important for Remote and Hybrid Work Models?

Increasing Productivity

In the current landscape of hybrid and remote work, it is essential for employees to quickly and easily access information to maintain high levels of productivity. The new normal has brought about unique challenges for both individuals and organizations.

According to a study, employees spend a considerable amount of time, up to 25%, searching for information, significantly reducing their productivity. This problem is particularly accentuated in hybrid and remote work setups, where the convenience of approaching a colleague’s desk for queries or clarifications is absent. To address this issue, organizations can empower employees by embracing digital accessibility and streamlining information access, ensuring efficient and effective work regardless of location.

Fostering Collaboration

Digital accessibility plays a pivotal role in fostering collaboration among remote and hybrid teams. By ensuring that digital tools, communication platforms, and collaborative spaces are designed with accessibility features, organizations create an inclusive environment where all team members, regardless of their abilities, can actively participate. Accessible collaboration tools enable seamless communication through features like closed captioning, alternative text, and keyboard shortcuts, accommodating individuals with varying needs. 

This inclusivity enhances team collaboration by removing barriers to participation and ensuring that everyone can contribute effectively. In a remote or hybrid work setting, where reliance on digital communication is paramount, prioritizing digital accessibility not only aligns with ethical considerations but also boosts team cohesion, engagement, and overall productivity by allowing all members to fully engage in collaborative efforts.

Information-Sharing

In the context of remote and hybrid work setups, digital accessibility plays an important role in fostering effective knowledge sharing among teams. By ensuring that digital platforms, collaboration tools, and communication channels are accessible to all individuals, including those with disabilities, organizations can create an inclusive environment for remote and hybrid workers. Digital accessibility enables seamless participation in virtual meetings, access to shared documents, and engagement with online training materials for all team members.

Features such as screen reader compatibility, closed captioning for virtual meetings, and adaptable document formats contribute to a more accessible knowledge-sharing experience. In doing so, digital accessibility not only removes barriers for employees with disabilities but also enhances overall communication and collaboration. This creates a more equitable and connected remote or hybrid work environment where knowledge can be shared and leveraged effectively by the entire team.

Remote Work -Engagedly

Digital Accessibility for Remote and Hybrid Work Models: Best Practices 

While a few organizations had already adopted a hybrid working model, the COVID-19 pandemic further accelerated the trend of remote work, emphasizing the need for employee safety. Recent data reveals a significant increase in the number of employees working remotely or in hybrid work settings. Pre-pandemic, only 6% of people worked from home, but according to a recent Gallup poll, approximately 56% of U.S. workers now work remotely, either full or part-time.

Many digital tools and platforms that play a crucial role in enabling remote work, such as video conferencing software and collaboration tools, often fall short in accessibility for employees with disabilities. Consequently, this trouble hampers their ability to actively participate in meetings, collaborate with colleagues, fulfill tasks, and access vital information.

Studies indicate that people with disabilities are 1.6 times more likely to experience a sense of exclusion in the workplace. It has detrimental effects on employees and their organizations, inhibiting both from realizing their maximum potential. Moreover, although remote technologies may encourage staff to stay connected while working remotely, they cannot be considered the best solution to creating an inclusive work culture.

So, how can organizations empower all their staff members to thrive while working remotely? Following are the three digital accessibility best practices companies can implement to foster a better, more inclusive remote work culture.

Make Information Sharing and Communication Easy

Prioritizing digital accessibility is crucial for effective communication and collaboration in remote and hybrid setups. Consider the following best practices to make information sharing seamless and enhance accessibility:

  • User-Friendly Platforms: Choose and design digital platforms with intuitive interfaces, clear navigation, and easy accessibility features.
  • Alternative Text for Images: Implement alternative text descriptions for images to ensure content is accessible to individuals with visual impairments.
  • Closed Captioning for Meetings: Incorporate closed captioning features for virtual meetings to accommodate employees with hearing impairments.
  • Customization Options: Encourage employees to customize their digital environments, allowing them to tailor settings to their individual needs.
  • Feedback Mechanisms: Implement feedback mechanisms, such as easily accessible forms on websites, to gather input and ensure continuous improvement in digital accessibility. 

Providing Training on Digital Accessibility

Digital accessibility is not just a necessity but a strategic imperative for fostering an inclusive workplace. A key best practice is to provide comprehensive training on digital accessibility for all employees. This training equips individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to create, share, and interact with digital content in a way that is accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities.

Training Components:

  • Web Accessibility Standards: Covering essential standards to ensure websites and web applications are navigable and usable for individuals with disabilities.
  • Document Creation Guidelines: Providing insights into creating digital documents, such as PDFs and presentations, in an accessible format.
  • Inclusive Design Principles: Exploring the application of inclusive design principles in software, applications, and other digital platforms.

Cultivating a Culture of Accessibility:

  • Integration into Daily Work: Empowering teams to proactively integrate inclusive practices into their daily digital interactions.
  • Adaptability to Remote/Hybrid Dynamics: Tailoring training to address the specific challenges and opportunities posed by remote and hybrid work environments.

Ongoing Education:

  • Addressing Updates: Ensuring that training remains current by addressing updates in accessibility standards and emerging technologies.
  • Proficiency Maintenance: Supporting continuous learning to maintain proficiency in creating an accessible digital ecosystem.          

Embracing Flexibility for Enhanced Digital Accessibility

Flexibility stands as the key component of a remote and hybrid setup, particularly when it comes to enhancing digital accessibility within the workplace. This approach involves:

  • Adaptive Technologies: Utilizing versatile tools and platforms that seamlessly integrate with assistive technologies, ensuring universal access to digital resources.
  • Open Communication: Fostering a culture that encourages open communication about accessibility needs, promoting transparency and understanding within the workforce.
  • Customization Options: Providing flexible features such as adjustable font sizes, adaptable color contrasts, and alternative navigation methods, allowing individuals to tailor their digital environment to meet unique requirements.
  • Policy Adaptability: Ensuring organizational policies are dynamic and responsive, capable of accommodating a range of abilities and preferences among employees.
  • Inclusive Work Environment: Prioritizing flexibility not only for compliance but also to create an inclusive work environment that values diversity and supports optimal performance for every team member, regardless of their abilities or working arrangements.

Summing Up

Digital accessibility plays a pivotal role in creating an inclusive world. The modern workforce demands equal access to learning and growth opportunities, which can be achieved through digital accessibility. Organizations must foster inclusive company cultures to ensure that all employees benefit from accessible workplaces. Embracing the idea of enhancing accessibility to remote work can cultivate an inclusive environment, fostering innovation and productivity. This paves the way for sustained success in organizations.

Remote Workforce

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why is digital accessibility important for hybrid and remote work setups?

Digital accessibility is crucial for hybrid and remote work setups because it ensures that digital tools, platforms, and communication channels are designed to be inclusive, allowing all individuals, including those with disabilities, to access and engage with digital resources effectively. 

2. Who should be responsible for digital accessibility within an organization?

Responsibility for digital accessibility within an organization typically falls on a dedicated accessibility team or department, often working in collaboration with IT and design teams. It’s crucial to have a designated individual or team with expertise in accessibility standards and practices to ensure consistent implementation across digital platforms and resources.

3. How can leaders support digital accessibility in organizations?

Leaders can actively support digital accessibility in organizations by fostering a culture of inclusivity. They can allocate resources for accessibility initiatives, establish and enforce policies, and provide training to employees. Additionally, leaders play a crucial role in monitoring compliance with accessibility standards and encouraging collaboration between accessibility, IT, and design teams.

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Types of Survey Questions: All You Need to Know

Crafting effective surveys requires a nuanced understanding of the questions that drive insightful responses. In this comprehensive guide, we navigate the diverse landscape of survey question types, providing you with the essential knowledge to design surveys that uncover meaningful insights. Whether you’re a seasoned researcher or new to the world of surveys, this blog is your gateway to understanding the intricacies of question types.

From the expansiveness of open-ended questions, allowing respondents to share their perspectives freely, to the precision of closed-ended questions, offering structured options for quantitative analysis, we delve into the purpose and strategic applications of each. Uncover the art of framing questions that are clear, concise, and tailored to your specific goals, whether it’s market research, employee engagement, or cultural understanding.

Types of Survey Questions

  • Open-Ended Questions

Open-ended survey questions allow respondents to provide detailed, free-form responses rather than selecting from answer options such as multiple-choice questions. These questions are valuable for capturing in-depth insights, opinions, and personal experiences. For example, if you’re trying to conduct market research, you might ask customers: Can you describe the challenges you face when looking for products/services in this category?

Open-ended questions are valuable for uncovering detailed customer needs or employee viewpoints. They reveal areas for improvement that might have been overlooked.

Also read: Boost Your Employee Experience for a Better Customer Experience

  • Closed-Ended Questions

Closed-ended questions provide respondents with predefined options to choose from. These questions are useful for collecting quantitative data and can be easily analyzed. Closed-ended questions include nominal, rating scale, yes/no, and Likert scale types of questions.

Closed-ended questions are highly effective for initiating surveys because they’re quick and easy to answer. This aligns with the foot-in-the-door principle. Once respondents commit to the first question, they’re more likely to engage with subsequent open-ended questions.

Closed-ended responses are easy to quantify and serve as benchmarks. Rating scale questions, in particular, help gauge the sentiment of the target audience and track progress over time. So, for example, you can monitor employee happiness with rating scale questions and identify any negative trends. Here are some common types of closed-ended questions:

  • Rating Scale Questions

Respondents are asked to evaluate a topic in light of a predetermined dimension scale when using a rating scale. Typically, the question is accompanied by answer choices that can be scaled to any desired range (1 to 10, 0 to 100, etc.) For example, you can evaluate employee satisfaction with a particular policy by asking,

‘Please rate, on a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied you are with ABC changes in policy.’

  • Nominal Questions

Nominal questions offer respondents various options for answers without using numbers, and these choices are distinct from one another without any overlap. Essentially, they are like multiple-choice survey questions. They comprise three or more extensive, mutually exclusive answer choices. You can ask for a single response or multiple responses.

These questions produce data that is simple to analyze, intuitive, and flexible to employ. A good survey question example here would be asking a customer,

‘How did you hear about our website?’

So, if they heard about it from multiple sources, such as friends, websites, family, etc., they can click on multiple options.

  • Likert Scale 

The Likert scale is commonly a 5- or 7-tiered measurement that gauges a respondent’s level of agreement with a statement or the strength of their response to a particular matter.

This scale is structured symmetrically: the middle value (such as ‘3’ on a 5-point scale) represents a neutral standpoint, the lowest value (always ‘1’) signifies a strong positive or negative perspective, and the highest value (like ‘5’ on a 5-point scale) denotes the contrary strong view. An example would be asking your employees,

‘On a rating scale of 1 to 5, where 1 indicates ‘Very Dissatisfied’ and 5 indicates ‘Very Satisfied,’ please rate your level of satisfaction with our company’s current performance management system.’

  • Yes/No Questions

Dichotomous questions, or ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions, offer a direct choice between two options. They’re ideal for quick segmentation of respondents. For instance, if you want to pinpoint obstacles to using your product, a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ survey on your pricing page can be followed by further inquiries from those who answered ‘no’.

These questions are effective icebreakers. The minimal effort required for a yes or no answer often encourages respondents to engage further, providing additional responses or contact information. For example, as a part of customer experience feedback, you might ask:

‘Did you find our interface easy to use?’

  • Matrix Questions

Matrix questions are structured in a table format. The questions are listed on the left side of the table, and the answer choices are displayed across the top. This format resembles a grid and is an extension of multiple-choice questions. With multipoint scales, respondents can pick only one option for each parameter, while multi-select allows them to choose multiple options.

  • Demographic Questions

Demographic questions collect details about a respondent’s background or income. When used effectively, these questions help you better understand your target customer audience. Demographics lets you group people based on characteristics and preferences, providing deeper insights into your data. Common demographic questions inquire about age, gender, and occupation.

What are Good Survey Questions?

Good survey questions are clear, concise, and relevant. They successfully gather precise and important data while giving respondents a comfortable experience. Well-crafted questions also consider the context of the survey, ensuring that the gathered information aligns with the overall objectives and provides meaningful insights for decision-making. 

Additionally, incorporating a mix of question types enhances the survey’s depth and captures a more comprehensive understanding of respondents’ perspectives.

Also read: The Ultimate Guide To Effective Employee Surveys

Tips to Frame Effective Survey Questions

  • The question must be simply worded and easy to understand. Avoid jargon, technical terms, or convoluted language that could confuse respondents.
  • The question should be directly related to your research objectives. Irrelevant questions can frustrate respondents and lead to inaccurate data.
  • Questions should be specific and focused, addressing one concept at a time. Vague or overly broad questions can result in ambiguous responses.
  • Questions should be phrased neutrally, avoiding bias that could sway respondents’ answers. Biased questions can lead to inaccurate or misleading data.
  • Use language suitable for your target audience’s age, education level, and cultural background.
  • Keep the wording and formatting of similar questions consistent to minimize confusion and ensure reliable data collection.
  • Before distributing the survey, test it with a small group of respondents to identify potential issues, ambiguities, or unclear wording.
  • For online surveys, use clear formatting, appropriate font size, and spacing to make the question visually appealing and easy to read.
  • Consider the sensitivity of certain topics. If asking personal or sensitive questions, ensure that respondents understand the purpose and importance of those questions and provide options for skipping if needed.
  • Avoid double-barreled questions. Don’t combine two separate questions into one. Each question should address a single issue to ensure clear responses.
  • Questions that suggest a preferred answer or assume certain facts can bias responses. Keep questions impartial to get genuine feedback.
  • Avoid using double negatives in questions, as they can confuse respondents. Opt for positive phrasing whenever possible.
  • Keep questions concise—just one or two lines at most. Also, be aware of survey fatigue. This happens when respondents lose interest due to repetitive questions or a lengthy survey.

Summing Up 

Effective business decision-making relies on pivotal surveys that encompass various question types, ranging from open-ended to closed-ended, such as rating scales and yes/no queries. To ensure accurate results, questions must be crafted with clarity, neutrality, and consistency in mind. Striking a balanced approach between closed and open questions is essential, and careful consideration of the survey length’s impact on participant engagement is vital during the drafting process. This thoughtful approach maximizes the survey’s effectiveness and enhances the quality of the insights gathered.  By following the essential dos and don’ts for survey creation, you can create insightful surveys that yield invaluable data for informed business strategies. 

free e10 Survey

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What purpose do surveys serve in an organization?

Surveys serve multiple purposes in an organization, from gathering employee feedback to gaining insight into customer satisfaction. They contribute to various aspects of understanding and improvements in a business. They are also a valuable tool for market research.

Q2.What makes a survey question effective?

Unbiased, clear, and simple wording makes survey questions effective. Surveys should match your organizational or departmental goals, be specific, and use language suitable for the audience. Avoid double-barreled questions and biases while maintaining consistency in formatting.

Q3. Is there an ideal length for surveys?

Yes, there is no one-size-fits-all answer, but shorter surveys with 5 to 10 questions tend to be more effective, considering people’s short attention spans and the need for engagement. 

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How to Recognize a Broken Culture and What to Do About It?

Every organization thrives on a foundation of shared values, beliefs, and behaviors. When these elements become fractured or misaligned, a “broken culture” can emerge, leading to employee dissatisfaction, decreased productivity, and ultimately, organizational stagnation.

This blog serves as a guide to identifying the warning signs of a broken culture and equipping you with actionable strategies for repairing the damage and building a thriving work environment. We’ll explore the key characteristics of a toxic culture, provide practical methods for diagnosis, and offer effective solutions for restoration.

By uncovering the hidden cracks and implementing the strategies outlined in this guide, you’ll be empowered to transform your company culture into a powerful force for employee engagement, success, and long-term sustainability.

What is a Broken Company Culture?

Unsatisfactory working conditions, rigid management styles, hasty hires, and inadequate leadership often act as roadblocks to organizational growth and success. These factors contribute to a “broken culture,” a toxic environment characterized by stalled initiatives, declining employee morale, and negative consumer feedback.

Unfortunately, a broken culture can quickly spiral out of control if left unchecked. Employees become dissatisfied and disengaged, eventually leading to increased turnover. Despite the significant impact on various aspects of the business, surprisingly few organizations actively discuss and address this issue.

The detrimental effects of a broken company culture include:
  • Limited Open Communication: Employees fear expressing genuine opinions and feedback, leading to a culture of conformity and missed opportunities for improvement.
  • Uninformed Decision-Making: Decisions are made without valuable employee insights, hindering innovation and adaptability.
  • A Culture of Blame and Shame: Mistakes are met with negativity and personal attacks, rather than constructive feedback and learning opportunities.
  • Excessive Workload and Burnout: Employees are expected to work long hours, leading to exhaustion, stress, and decreased productivity.
  • Transparency and Trust Deficit: Clear communication is lacking, fostering suspicion and distrust among employees and leadership.
Also read: How to foster a positive work environment and reduce anxiety?

How to Recognize a Broken Company Culture?

  • Frustrated employees because of a broken company cultureLack of Faith in the Company

The dynamics of worker, manager, and leader interactions can determine the level of trust within a company. Effective communication from leaders, including clear and concise communication of principles, goals, and major changes, empowers employees to make informed decisions and voice their opinions. Conversely, a lack of communication breeds mistrust and disengagement among employees. When employees are unaware of what is happening, they lose faith in the company’s decisions and overall culture.

  • Leadership Issues

While effective leadership is often easy to identify, ineffective leadership can be less apparent but can swiftly undermine culture. By examining the actions of your organization’s top executives and first-line managers, you may uncover issues with your workplace culture.

Frontline staff members view their leaders as role models for both positive and negative behavior. They also notice inconsistencies between leaders’ actions and the company’s values. Unaddressed inconsistent behaviors harm an organization’s reputation and employee engagement, contributing to a fractured culture.

  • Inability to Retain or Hire People

If employees continually quit and the company cannot retain replacements for a long time, it is one of the biggest indicators of a broken corporate culture. It can be difficult to overcome a company’s bad reputation for high personnel turnover. Moreover, job searchers may intentionally ignore your organization, making it more difficult to find new talent.

According to a Gallup study, employees engaged in work and office environments are 59% less likely to hunt for a new job in the coming year than their disengaged counterparts. Thus, if the business cannot fill the job openings or clocks in unqualified people just to fill gaps, it is a sign of a broken culture.

  • Frequent Absences

A negative workplace culture is evident in excessive late arrivals and absence rates. Employees’ tardiness should indicate their lack of motivation, laziness, or unwillingness to interact with others or work. Remote or flexible schedule employees may be an exception.

  • Lack of Communication

Lack of communication is a clear sign of a broken workplace environment. How information flows between teams or managers and direct reports can impact the company’s culture and financial performance. Ineffective communication among staff members can reduce productivity, hinder innovation, and foster an unfavorable work atmosphere, resulting in a broken culture.

How do you Fix a Broken Company Culture?

An unhealthy workplace culture harms employee satisfaction and business performance. Executing methods to improve or avoid a toxic workplace culture is essential. Managers must also be taught to spot issues and support a positive and productive work environment. Let’s explore how to fix a broken company culture.

  • Establish Role Clarity

A significant contributor to team or business conflict is often a lack of clarity regarding roles and responsibilities. Without clearly defined roles, it’s easy to overlook certain duties, goals, or activities. To address this, take the initiative to establish team goals and explicitly outline individual responsibilities. 

Bring the team together to discuss and break down overarching goals into manageable tasks, clearly designating who is responsible for each. Once roles are defined, encourage team members to maintain open communication, sharing progress and challenges. This proactive approach not only enhances organizational efficiency but also strengthens team dynamics, helping managers cultivate a more resilient and cohesive workplace culture.

  • Acknowledge Issues Honestly

In the realm of work, occasional errors are inevitable. Effective leaders approach these instances with authenticity, focusing on solutions rather than resorting to criticism or scapegoating. Assigning blame without seeking resolutions risks exacerbating the problem and undermining the team’s morale. 

Therefore, to correct a broken culture, management must acknowledge issues with the utmost sincerity and honesty. By doing so, leaders foster an environment where learning from mistakes is prioritized over assigning fault, promoting a culture of continuous improvement and resilience

Also read: 10 Ways To Demonstrate Leadership At Workplace

  • Create Procedures for Misconduct

Sexual harassment, racism, discrimination, and physical assault are serious violations, not just warning signs. The management should address these issues immediately. It is best to seek legal advice to ensure you adhere to local laws and create a policy with precise definitions. A strict, zero-tolerance policy should, thus, be established to guarantee a safe work environment where employees can speak up without the fear of retaliation.

Employees must know that the business will take all required actions and discreetly examine any problems. Workers could be reluctant to report inappropriate behavior if they feel the employer will resort to humiliation or unwarranted action against them.

  • Fix High Turnover and Low Retention

Your company’s high turnover rate may be because of a broken culture. You can employ some ways to fix it.

During exit interviews, question employees about why they chose to leave. Listen and understand what about the company culture irritated them and what elements they found challenging to give up.

Then, speak with staff members, especially those who have worked for the company for a long time, to learn what has kept them going. Consider conducting a survey on employee engagement and thoroughly examining the results. Take immediate action once you’ve identified what needs to be improved.

  • Promote Psychological Safety

Psychological safety encompasses fostering a workplace environment where employees can freely communicate, take risks, and learn from failures. Encouraging polite interactions among staff is a quick way to establish psychological safety.

One of the most common reasons for employees exhibiting poor behavior at work is the lack of consistent display of expected behavior from leaders. Therefore, leaders should lead by example and emulate the desired behavior for their teams to follow.

Also read: What is a High-Performance Culture?

  • Develop Your Leadership Abilities

To create a positive work environment, it is crucial for leadership to set an example of good behavior. Thus, ensure the management is engaged in the solution to make staff understand what is accepted and the culture you are promoting. You could discuss diversity and inclusion to educate team members about treating each other appropriately.

Additionally, leaders should focus on developing communication skills to foster openness and trust within the team. Teaching emotional intelligence skills enables individuals to identify and address harmful conduct in themselves and others, contributing to a safe work environment.

Summing Up

Cultivating a positive workplace culture is a gradual process that requires time, creativity, discipline, cooperation, and a genuine commitment to reshaping a toxic work atmosphere. Identifying specific cultural issues to address is a crucial first step, allowing you to initiate thoughtful plans that yield positive outcomes. 

Over time, as these initiatives take root, employees are more likely to enjoy positive work experiences, fostering a sense of loyalty and motivating them to consistently deliver their best efforts. The journey toward a positive workplace culture is an ongoing endeavor that, when undertaken with dedication and strategic intent, can yield lasting benefits for both employees and the organization as a whole.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How does a broken culture affect businesses?

A broken culture in a business results in low morale, reduced productivity, high turnover, and hindered innovation. Communication breakdowns and trust issues impede collaboration, affecting organizational effectiveness. This damaged culture can also harm the employer brand, making it difficult to attract and retain top talent, ultimately impacting business success.

2. What are the signs of bad company culture?

Signs of a bad company culture include low employee morale, frequent turnover, a lack of clear communication, resistance to change, favoritism, and a toxic work environment. Poor collaboration, limited opportunities for professional growth, and a general lack of enthusiasm among employees are also indicators of an unhealthy company culture.

3. How to change a negative work culture?

To change a negative work culture, identify issues, encourage open communication, and involve the team. Implement initiatives like training and recognition programs, lead by example, and consistently reinforce new values. Patience and persistent commitment from leadership and the team are crucial for a successful transformation.

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7 Key Project Management Skills for Employees in 2024

As the corporate world is evolving for the better, the dimensions of project management are also witnessing major overhauls. The progression of the contemporary business world is quite synonymous with rampant digitalization. With technology at the helm, both companies and projects are now going remote. Having said that, it is time that project managers undertake the objective of incorporating project management skills desired for the future.

It is an undeniable fact that, alongside transformations in the corporate world, the competition is also growing at a swift pace. Ultimately, it all boils down to the parameters of skills that are meant for future success. Organizations will look to invest in people equipped with skills relevant to the future. So, irrespective of whether you are already working as a project manager or you aspire to be one, the last thing you would want to do is to be complacent about your skills. 

No matter how skilled you are at present, to succeed in the long run, you need to upskill yourself. It will help you build competencies in alignment with how the corporate scenario is shaping. You need to invest in your skills today so that you can relish great success in the future.

Also Read: Everything You Need To Know About Workplace Competencies!

Having said that, this thoughtful blog sheds light on the pivotal project management skills that are salient for future success. So, let’s elaborate on the verticals of project management that you need to focus on keeping your future career ambitions in mind. 

Salient project management skills for future success 

1. Virtual collaboration skills

Remote project management is the new normal in this revamped business world. It is quite evident that more and more businesses will take the remote or hybrid route in the coming years. In fact, a Gartner CFO survey concludes that by 2025, 74 percent of employers might shift their employees to permanent remote work. Clearly, the remote working culture will thrive at a greater momentum in the near future. 

As a project manager, you need to work on skills that are crucial to successful remote project management. Speaking of the prerequisite skills for remote project management, virtual collaboration skills will hold the key. You will have to collaborate virtually with your team members and coordinate with much greater efficiency. 

It is noteworthy that as per SalesForce, 86 percent of employees cite ineffective collaboration as the principal reason for project failures. In remote project handling, the vulnerabilities of project mismanagement will be even higher. Having said that, your virtual collaboration skills have to be flawless and should set an ideal template of collaboration for other team members to follow. 

Your effectiveness at collaboration in the remote setup will have a critical role to play in the success of projects. Moreover, you also need to work on your adaptability skills to get used to the latest project management tools and software that will drive remote project management. State-of-the-art project management tools hold the key to the future of project management and you ought to briskly adapt to the latest tools in practice.

2. Open communication

Effective communication is and will always remain the key to organizational success at all levels. But in remote projects, the significance of open and elaborative communication will be much greater than ever before. Clear descriptions and instructions need to be communicated across digital channels with great effectiveness. 

Thus, you need to further optimize your communication skills to attain the anticipated future success. The focus needs to be on open communication such that every team member understands project details, instructions, roles, and key performance indicators with precision. 

Besides, you need to espouse the art of continuous feedback sharing to manage team performance. Needless to say, for this purpose too, you would require excellent communication skills. Projects will have the best chance of succeeding when faultless communication happens at all levels. It will ensure that team members are on the same page and have a sense of direction. 

Also Read: 10 Ways To Improve Communication At Workplace

Being at the helm, open and transparent strategic communication will be your responsibility. In fact, when it comes to communication skills, there will always be a scope of improvement, no matter how proficient you are. This is one skill for which you should commit yourself to consistent learning. Also, you ought to bolster your communication skills with active listening and attention to detail.

3. Effective cost management

You may otherwise have great abilities to manage and motivate teams, but if you are not very effective at cost management, it can turn out to be a roadblock in your career advancement. Cost is a key concern for organizations and the idea often is to deliver successful projects in accordance with lean budgets. 

Therefore, to attain greater success as a project manager, you need to consolidate your budgetary planning skills along with a 9/80 work schedule. You need to learn how projects can be budgeted in an efficient manner while also taking contingencies into consideration. In the ultimate sense, your value as a project manager will be viewed in terms of your ability to deliver excellent projects at low costs. 

The lower the cost of projects, the greater will be the profitability of an organization. Coherent to that, the greater will be your career advancement. In fact, in the coming years, project costs will be a key criterion for the success of businesses. It will emerge as an even more important differentiating factor for businesses to compete with each other. 

The onus will be on the project managers to stick to the designated budgets. In fact, you should be the one suggesting smart cost-cutting ideas to your employer without compromising on project quality.  

Download the case study to know how Experian saved time and money when they shifted to Engagedly.

Experian Case Study

4. Emotional intelligence

The demand for emotional intelligence is growing at an exponential pace in the contemporary corporate world. In the coming years, we will see the relevance of EQ in the workplace amplify further. To substantiate, as per PR Newswire, more than 65 percent of people think that EQ in the workplace is either equally important or more important when seen in contrast to IQ. To add, 95 percent of HR managers believe that it is important that employees have EQ. 

EQ is the ability of an individual to manage and control their emotions in an effective way to produce positive outcomes. Besides, people with high EQ are also proficient in steering the emotions of others in a positive direction to lead them to the desired results. It is an exceptional skill to have and certainly, there is a dearth of people with high EQ. 

If we look at most people around us, they are vulnerable to being overdriven by negative emotional influences. It is common for people to feel overwhelmed by their emotions at times and end up making regretful decisions. However, such mistakes cannot be made when you are leading projects that are crucial for your organization. Emotional intelligence is highly quintessential for people in leadership roles. 

As a project manager, you need to channel the emotions of your team in the right direction, such that their emotional influences do not interfere with the progress of the project. Also, you need to be empathetic towards your team members and respect their emotions. 

Also Read: 4 Creative Team-Building Activities

In an empathetic team culture, they will be able to sideline their emotional insecurities and focus on their tasks. It is noteworthy that empathy is one of the most prominent traits of a high EQ. In fact, EQ in itself is a spectrum of different skills, each of which is essential for career success. The key components of emotional intelligence besides empathy are listed below.

  • Self-awareness 
  • Self-regulation 
  • Intrinsic motivation 
  • Social Skills  

As you can see, each of the above skills defines the modern-day core competencies of managers and leaders. This explains why employers and recruiters are now inclined toward hiring managers that promise exemplary emotional intelligence. EQ is a skill that can make you stand out from others. In fact, going into the future, it will emerge as one of the most imperative career skills for success and advancement. You have to make sure that you work on this crucial aspect of skill-building.  

5. Critical Intellect

Jumping to conclusions without assessing the available information and verifying facts can be disastrous, isn’t it? This coming from a project manager can undoubtedly spell trouble for any organization. As a project manager, you will always have the added responsibility to examine the details and information in an intellectual way. In simpler words, you will need excellent critical thinking skills to perform with great efficiency. 

Given the fact that every project is of key significance to an organization, you cannot simply choose to run through things. You need to act with attention to detail and critically evaluate all project details to streamline processes and set the course of action for a given project. Critical intellect is in direct correlation with responsible and appropriate decision-making. 

Moreover, another trait of critical thinkers is that they take everyone’s perspective into account before making decisions. From the perspective of project management success, it is imperative that project managers promote inclusiveness in decision-making. When you lead a team, you need to give each team member a strong sense of cohesion and belonging. You can do that best when you have distinguishable critical thinking skills. 

The more critical your thinking gets as a project manager, the more optimized the outcomes you will be able to produce in terms of successful projects. It is an essential skill for people in leadership and managerial roles as it directly impacts their ability in terms of team management and intellect. 

Besides, being a critical thinker, you will have a more productive and intelligible approach to resolving conflicts in your team. Conflicts among team members are a common phenomenon, and conflict resolution is one of the key metrics for evaluating project managers. For success across all these metrics, you need to be an extraordinarily critical thinker. 

6. Creativity

Creativity is the foundation of stellar innovation and exceptional problem-solving abilities. Project managers need to be at the best of these capabilities at all times and hence, creativity becomes quintessential for future success. In fact, LinkedIn Learning infers that creativity as a career skill is of utmost significance across all domains. Moreover, as per IBM, a majority of CEOs are of the opinion that creativity will be the single most important factor driving future success. 

Having said that, to prosper your career in the competitive domain of project management, you need to complement your expertise with class apart creativity. You would need to innovate at different stages of projects to optimize the process and the ultimate outcome. Along similar lines, you will have to navigate through challenges to ensure project success. Needless to say, almost all projects involve some complicated challenges that you need to overcome swiftly. 

As long as you have a strong creative intellect, you can deal with project complexities in an impressive and brisk manner. Besides, you will also have to overcome team management challenges in addition to project complications. This explains why organizations will prioritize project management candidates that display exemplary creative intellect. It is time you pay greater heed to the development of your creative and problem-solving skills. 

7. Resilience 

Project managers are no less than leaders and leaders ought to display great resilience. If you envisage enormous success as a project manager over the coming years, you need to supplement it with resilience. It is your ability to withstand adverse situations, pressing problems, and challenges that will establish your worth as a leader. 

Your team members will look up to you for support and guidance during adversities. You ought to inspire them to embrace the challenges and bring out the best in them. Besides, you need to model for them how one can sustain productivity and focus when things are not going right. For that, you need to have a character with distinct resilience and conviction. 

We all witnessed how things began to fall apart at the advent of the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. Those who were resilient enough to face such an unexpected challenge did far better in terms of coping than others. Resilient leaders were at the forefront of damage control that businesses had to bear in the face of the pandemic. 

To continue, organizations would not be much interested in appointing project managers that crumble under pressure or challenging scenarios. They will rather be on the lookout for resilient and motivated leaders who can embrace challenges and keep their team morale high in a crisis. Interestingly, contemporary organizations are striving hard to build resilient workforces. So, if resilience is a key trait of your personality, you will, by default, have a competitive advantage.  

Also Read: 10 Benefits of  360 Degree Feedback

To recapitulate, the corporate world is undergoing some paradigm shifts, and corresponding to that, the perception of prerequisite career skills is also changing. Speaking of project management specifically, as the trend of remote projects thrives further, project managers will need new dimensions of upskilling for future success. If you want to give yourself a competitive advantage over others amid the growing competition, the essential project management skills mentioned above will pave the way forward. To get to know more of the soft skills a project manager should possess and how to hone them, read this article by Toptal.

Want to know how Engagedly can help you manage your tasks better? Request for a live demo.

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Author:

Jessica Robinson Engagedly Guest Author

Jessica Robinson is a charismatic corporate leader, a selfless educator, and a versatile content creator. Despite a management degree, her vision behind blogging is not only to follow her passion but to create more informed societies. Her selflessness reflects in every piece of her work on The Speaking Polymath.

10 Remote Working Tools You Need in 2024

Undoubtedly, COVID-19 has changed the way we live, work, and interact with people. Due to the pandemic, companies were forced to adopt remote working, making it the new normal.

Although remote working is not rocket science, many companies are still trying to get accustomed to working as a distributed team. However, technology has made it easy for everyone to work from anywhere in the world.

Since remote working is becoming very popular, it is really important to start managing remote teams. If you are working as a project manager, human resource manager, or any other related profession, then it is your responsibility to take all the necessary steps toward your team’s success.

To help you better, here are some of the best remote working tools you need to use in 2023. 

Let us get started!

Top 10 Remote Working Tools You Need In 2023

While working remotely as a team, communication and collaboration are the keys. Here are some of the best tools that you can try to improve your team’s productivity.

1. Zoom

Agree or not, Zoom has gained a lot of popularity in the last few years. Zoom is one of the best and most lightweight video conferencing tools that integrates directly into the Zoom Calendar.

Although this remote working tool offers messaging options, it is popularly known for high-quality video calling.

The good news is that this tool offers a free plan in which you can conduct a meeting of 40 minutes. However, with the Pro Plan, you can conduct a longer meeting.

Another most important feature of this remote working tool is that it allows you to record meetings, create educational videos, or document common procedures.

2. Slack

Slack is another popular chat tool that makes communication between colleagues and the team easier. The application offers a very user-friendly interface.

You can integrate this tool with various other applications like G Suite, Adobe Creative Cloud, Dropbox, and more.

One of the most unique features of Slack is that it provides birthday reminders and team reports making it a fun tool to use! 

Since the tool also offers a mobile application, teams can collaborate and communicate from anywhere. Talking about the price, it is very affordable and is the best choice for software development teams.

Also Read: How to Collaborate Remotely

3. Google Drive

We all know about Google Drive! It is THE BEST one when talking about cloud storage. Some of the most important features that make it the most desirable tool in the market are:

  • Top-notch security
  • Transparency
  • Real-time editing

Moreover, since it belongs to Google, it is a must-have tool for every remote working professional.

Steve Elliott, Franchise Owner of Restoration1, says, “It allows you to share documents, spreadsheets, and slide presentations. All the files can be synced across devices, making it easy to view and update documents from anywhere.”

4. Todoist

Todoist is another best remote working tool that makes task management easy and fun. The interface is strong and very intuitive.

With this tool, you can create tasks, reminders, create to-do lists, and sync every device.

Moreover, you can also assign tasks to other team members. You can even prioritize your tasks, add documents, and give due dates for each project.

More than just a project management tool, it is a great task management tool!

Remote working tools

5. Trello

Trello is another best and all-purpose project management tool based on the Kanban system. It is one of the best tools for managers, as it makes it easy for them to create cards.

You can create cards, rearrange them, delegate assignments, track progress, collect & store information, plan, and organize work processes.

Joe Troyer, the CEO & Growth Advisor of ReviewGrower, likes the interface of Trello. He says, “It is very simple and effective making it a great choice for remote teams to collaborate and manage complex tasks.”

6. Google Docs

Google Docs is the most flexible remote working tool in the market. It is a go-to tool for writing and text editing. It offers various features like auto-saving, working offline, and offers a variety of fonts. 

Another most important feature of Google Docs is that it makes sharing documents very easy. Moreover, the suggestion mode allows people to suggest edits and view revision history allows users to view the changes made by others. These features make Google Docs a great remote working tool.

7. Asana

Having been in the market since 2008, Asana is one of the robust project management tools that make remote working easy.

Some of the best features of this tool are:

  • Timeline and project board view with automation and integration
  • Comprehensive toolkit suitable for every organization
  • Task-oriented making remote work easier
  • Divide the workload in the development phase itself

Mark Valderrama, CEO & Founder of Aquarium Store Depot, says, “The simple and intuitive design of Asana makes it easy to track progress and see the status of each task. It also makes communication between teammates very easy.”

Also Read: Remote Team: Goal Setting And OKRs

8. Redbooth

Redbooth is a web-based tool designed for collaboration and task management. It is designed to make communication and project management simpler.

Customers from across all industries use Redbooth. It is also a strong competitor for Asana and Basecamp.

9. Hangouts

Hangouts by Google is one of the best tools integrated with G Suite. It is a very light tool that does not take up a lot of space. Many teams use it for easy text messaging and video calling.

Although Hangouts is similar to Zoom, you do not have to download the software to use Hangouts. Companies that use G Suite will use Hangouts because it works well with other Google products like Calendar, Drive, and much more, making collaboration easy.

10. Jira

Jira by Atlassian is an alternative to Trello but caters mainly to software development. This remote working tool supports test case management and agile software development making it easy for teams to operate effectively.

You can also integrate this tool with other products like BitBucket and Confluence which makes software development easy.

Conclusion

Getting the workflow right while remote working can be a daunting task at the start. The key to remote working is effective communication and collaboration. With technical development, there are many tools available online that can make remote working easy. Some of the best remote working tools you need to use in 2023 discussed in this article will make remote working easier for you.

remote working tools

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3 Ways to Implement an Employee Development Learning Culture in Your Workplace

Businesses consistently achieving optimal results share a common trait: a robust learning culture. The influence of your learning culture extends across all facets of your organization, influencing efficiency, productivity, profitability, and employee satisfaction. Prioritizing the establishment of a robust learning culture within your team is crucial for ensuring their success. In this guide, we will define the concept of an employee development learning culture, delve into its significance, and present a set of techniques to actively cultivate a learning-centric environment in the workplace.

What is Learning Culture in the Workplace?

A Learning Culture in the workplace refers to an organizational environment that encourages and values continuous learning and development among its employees. It goes beyond formal training programs and incorporates a mindset that promotes curiosity, experimentation, and knowledge-sharing. 

In a workplace with a strong learning culture, employees are empowered to seek new skills, adapt to changes, and contribute to the collective growth and innovation of the organization. This culture fosters an atmosphere where learning is viewed as a continuous, integral part of the work experience, ultimately contributing to improved performance, employee satisfaction, and overall organizational success.

Also read: Engagedly Introduces Powerful Updates to Learning and Development

Importance of Learning Culture in the Workplace

learning and development in the workplaceCultivating a learning culture is indispensable for sustained business excellence, as it profoundly influences various facets of an organization, from strategy and creativity to employee engagement and retention. The significance of a learning culture in the workplace is multifaceted, and here’s why:

  • Enhances Operational Efficiency

Operating within a learning culture empowers team members to embrace diverse perspectives and continually seek opportunities for knowledge exchange. Such practices not only contribute to the overall well-being of an organization but also lay the groundwork for its future success.

High-performing organizations typically boast comprehensive learning cultures, in stark contrast to those with less engaged employees. Robust learning cultures promote creativity, adaptability, and flexibility, making these organizations more open to embracing change and less apprehensive about taking calculated risks.

  • Sparks Creativity and Fosters Innovation

Learning cultures serve as incubators for creativity by encouraging employees to broaden their knowledge and skills through diverse and innovative learning methods. Employees are inspired to translate their learning into action through avenues such as peer learning, reverse mentoring, conferences, presentations, networking with professionals from other organizations, and exposure to cross-industry job scopes.

In environments that prioritize continuous learning, innovative thinking becomes the norm. Businesses consciously fostering a growth mindset consistently outperform competitors, showcasing the tangible benefits of embracing a culture of learning.

Also read: 5 Tech-Powered Innovations to Implement In The Onboarding Process

  • Nurturing Tomorrow’s Leaders

Foster a learning culture to shape future leaders and establish a robust succession plan within your organization. A strong learning culture not only attracts top talent but also fosters employee engagement, retention, and overall well-being.

Integrating mentorship and leadership development programs into your learning culture sets the stage for talented individuals to step into future leadership roles, ensuring a seamless transition.

  • Enhancing Client Satisfaction

Engaged and capable employees exude confidence, passion, and motivation, leading to heightened consumer engagement, stronger connections, and trust both internally and externally. In an environment that prioritizes learning, employees are empowered to interact with consumers, addressing feedback positively and constructively. This commitment to continuous improvement significantly contributes to elevated client satisfaction levels.

How to Implement Learning in Your Workplace?

Embarking on the journey to establish a culture of continuous learning within your workplace requires a thoughtful and strategic approach. Here’s a comprehensive process for how to effectively implement learning initiatives in your organization:

  • Assess the Current Employee Learning Culture

It’s important to comprehend your organization’s current learning environment before taking any developmental action. Organizations may need to review their learning systems regularly. This is especially necessary when a significant portion of the workforce is connected remotely, putting an emphasis on digital and social learning.

Creativity and reliability are key when organizations assess their learning environment, especially when dealing with intangible and challenging-to-measure forms of learning, such as social and informal learning. During this evaluation process:

  • Collect organizational information on present teaching methods.
  • Ensure the staff is comfortable with and adopts the learning opportunities and methods.
  • Establish focus groups and other methods of gathering qualitative employee input to understand how and when individuals learn and the obstacles to their learning.

By gaining a clear understanding of your current standing, you can leverage existing strengths and address any deficiencies in your business’s learning culture effectively. This proactive approach ensures a more adaptive and responsive learning environment, essential for the dynamic needs of today’s workforce.  

  • Encourage and Promote Employee Learning Culture

In order to promote employee learning, management needs to communicate new opportunities and support independent training. The way leaders behave greatly influences how employees embrace a focus on learning. Active involvement and participation from managers are crucial for building a strong learning culture within organizations.

To facilitate learning, make educational resources easily accessible to staff members whenever and wherever they want to learn. Create a virtual library of materials that align with employees’ desired learning goals.

It’s important to acknowledge that building a perfect learning culture takes time and may involve some trial and error. Organizations should be adaptable and willing to adjust their learning strategies to better suit their workforce.

  • Reward Continuous Learning Culture

Mastering new skills can feel like an uphill battle, but when hard work is recognized, motivation soars. That’s why celebrating learning victories is an essential strategy for fostering lifelong growth. We recommend implementing company-wide programs to honor your team’s dedication. These can range from simple shout-outs for exceptional performance to more enticing rewards like prizes or coupons.

Furthermore, many successful businesses acknowledge their employees’ learning achievements during weekly or monthly meetings. Additionally, organizations may encourage staff members to block off dedicated training time on their calendars each week. By doing so, employees can enjoy guilt-free moments away from their regular duties to focus on their own personal development.

Summing Up

A supportive learning environment encourages employees to grow personally and professionally and experience high engagement and transparency. Employees with abundant learning opportunities are open-minded, curious people interested in learning new things. They frequently want to impart their knowledge to others, creating a group or business of lifelong learners. Learn the advantages of supporting your employees’ professional growth and how to foster a collaborative workplace culture that promotes creativity.

Engagedly LXP offers a robust platform designed to revolutionize the learning experience within your organization. With a commitment to cultivating a culture of continuous growth and development, our Learning Experience Platform (LXP) goes beyond traditional learning management systems. Book a personalized DEMO to learn more.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why is employee learning culture important?

  • A robust employee learning culture is essential as it ensures continuous skill development, keeping employees relevant in a rapidly changing professional landscape. Additionally, it fosters adaptability, engagement, innovation, and productivity, contributing to an organization’s long-term success and competitiveness.

2. What are the characteristics of a learning culture?

  • A learning culture is characterized by traits such as a commitment to continuous development, openness to new ideas, a shared emphasis on knowledge sharing, encouragement of innovation, and a supportive environment that values learning from both successes and failures. Additionally, effective communication, collaboration, and a focus on individual and collective growth are hallmarks of a thriving learning culture within an organization.

3. How does employee development contribute to overall workplace productivity?

  • Employee development enhances overall workplace productivity by equipping individuals with new skills and knowledge, enabling them to perform tasks more efficiently. Additionally, it fosters a motivated and engaged workforce, leading to improved job satisfaction and a positive impact on the overall efficiency of the organization.

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Burnout in the Workplace: How Leaders Can Communicate Change?

Across all professions, burnout and stress levels have reached an unprecedented peak. Over the last decade, workplace stress and burnout have seen a notable surge, garnering more attention than ever before. A staggering 89% of workers have reported experiencing burnout in the past year alone, with these figures continuing to rise. The primary contributors to workplace burnout are identified as financial pressures and health concerns.

In response to this escalating issue, numerous companies have made substantial investments in prioritizing their employees’ mental health and overall well-being. Notably, four out of five HR executives affirm that their organizations place significant value on mental health and wellbeing initiatives.

The repercussions of burnout extend beyond individual well-being, impacting the willingness of stressed and fatigued employees to embrace new processes, collaborate with team members, fulfill job responsibilities, and remain committed to the company. During challenging periods, leaders must skillfully convey changes to a burnout-affected workforce, not only to ensure their immediate engagement but also to cultivate a lasting commitment to the organization.

Identifying Burnout in the Workplace

Employee burnout in the workplace: how leaders can help.Burnout is a term used to describe a state of chronic stress and exhaustion that can result from prolonged exposure to demanding or overwhelming work conditions. It’s often characterized by feelings of emotional and physical depletion, a decline in productivity, and a sense of detachment from one’s work. Employees who feel overworked, undervalued, or lacking in motivation are particularly vulnerable to burnout.

Key signs and symptoms of burnout can include:
  • Decreased productivity: difficulty concentrating, completing tasks efficiently, and meeting deadlines.
  • Emotional and physical tiredness: feeling drained, depleted, and lacking energy.
  • A lack of attention: becoming easily distracted and having difficulty focusing on work.
  • Negativity: Developing a cynical or pessimistic attitude towards work and colleagues.
  • Declining job quality or health: experiencing health problems such as headaches, insomnia, or digestive issues.
  • Increased absenteeism: missing work more frequently due to illness or stress.

It’s important to note that burnout can affect employees at all levels, including managers and those in leadership positions. The symptoms of burnout can develop gradually, so it’s crucial for managers to be aware of the signs and take proactive steps to address them. Organizations should consult with certified medical professionals to develop strategies for recognizing, preventing, and addressing burnout in the workplace.

The three stages of burnout are typically defined as:
  • Low-risk stage: Employees are still actively engaged in their work but may experience low levels of stress that are generally manageable.
  • Moderate-risk stage: Employees may find it more difficult to concentrate, experience increased fatigue, and have a more negative outlook on their work.
  • High-risk stage: Stress becomes overwhelming, leading to significant performance declines, frequent absences, and difficulty completing daily tasks.

Common Causes of Burnout at the Workplace

Burnout doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s often the result of specific factors present in the workplace environment. In this section, we’ll delve into the most prevalent causes of burnout, helping you identify potential triggers and take proactive steps towards creating a healthier work culture.

  • Unjust Treatment in the Workplace

When someone feels unfairly treated, it affects their motivation and work performance, resulting in burnout. Unfair treatment can be evident in one employee receiving credit for a group effort. Alternatively, management may routinely approve an employee’s deadline extensions while reprimanding another employee’s well-deserved leave approval. Receiving unjust treatment results in stress, depression, low employee morale, and more, causing burnout in the workplace.

  • Role Ambiguity and Conflict

Role conflict, when people are asked to fulfill activities irrelevant to their job role or reach incompatible goals, is a major cause of employee burnout. Burnout is also influenced by the high ambiguity or uncertainty surrounding goals and tasks.

  • Excessive Workload

A demanding workload is a top reason for burnout. Your staff members feel pressured and worn out if they have endless chores to perform without enough time. The situation worsens if this unachievable workload continues daily or on most workdays.

Burnout can also result from monotonous labor. In an ideal world, you should only work as much as you can handle, as continuous work overload results in fatigue and reduces your motivation.

  • Absence of Reward or Acknowledgment 

While monetary rewards and perks can certainly motivate employees, genuine recognition and appreciation for their efforts are equally important in preventing burnout. When employees feel their hard work is noticed and valued, it boosts morale and fosters a sense of belonging. This intrinsic motivation is crucial for sustained engagement and productivity.

However, it’s important to ensure that recognition is sincere and authentic. Empty praise or misleading incentives can have the opposite effect, leading to resentment and demotivation. Additionally, avoid singling out individuals for praise within a group setting. This can create feelings of humiliation and envy among other employees, potentially exacerbating existing conflicts and contributing to burnout.

  • Weak Connections 

Stronger connections lead to stronger employees. When people feel like they belong to a community, they are more engaged, productive, and less likely to experience burnout. A positive workplace culture is essential for attracting and retaining top talent, and it all starts with building strong connections between employees.

Also read:  How HR and People Strategy Leaders are Responding to Pay Equity

How Can Leaders Help Teams Survive Burnout?

Achieving impactful company results relies on engaged employees who are motivated, loyal, and focused. Engaged staff members contribute to increased growth, performance, morale, and productivity. Therefore, it is crucial to prioritize high-level workplace improvements to minimize or prevent burnout. Offering individual support may also be necessary to address staff burnout. To prevent workplace burnout in the team, consider implementing the following actions:

  • Acknowledge Employee Contributions

Recognize and appreciate the staff’s collective teamwork and individual contributions. It is crucial to make employees feel valued in order to prevent burnout. Showing gratitude for their efforts individually showcases appreciation. Furthermore, publicly acknowledging their hard work within the organization and advocating for them with the board when needed.

Implementing reward programs could further engage employees and foster a sense of value. Consider conducting a poll to gather insights on preferred incentives. Potential rewards may include paid time off, complimentary meals, gift cards, or promotional items.

  • Prioritize Employee Well-Being

Prioritizing employee well-being is a paramount strategy for fostering a healthy and sustainable work environment, aimed at preventing workplace burnout. Recognizing the importance of mental and physical health in the professional sphere is not just a matter of compassion; it’s a strategic imperative for organizational success. 

By implementing initiatives that focus on employee well-being, such as flexible work hours, mental health resources, and stress management programs, companies can significantly reduce the risk of burnout. A workforce that feels supported and valued is not only more productive but also more resilient in the face of challenges. Cultivating a workplace culture that prioritizes the holistic well-being of its employees not only enhances job satisfaction but also contributes to the long-term success and sustainability of the organization.

  • Give Employees an Achievable Workload

Burnout occurs when workers continuously put in extra work hours each week. Additionally, many workers find it difficult to distinguish between and balance their personal and professional obligations when working from home.

Simple policy adjustments can have a huge impact. For instance, you can restrict the number of daily meetings and instead focus on duties. Leaders might set an example by refusing to respond to emails or texts during off-hours. Additionally, they must calculate the time needed for each activity on a worker’s project list before allocating a project. These adjustments may reduce job overload and, thus, workplace burnout.

Also Read: The Importance of Peer Feedback at Workplace

  • Foster a Positive Work Culture

Fostering a positive workplace culture is a vital strategy to reduce employee burnout and cultivate a thriving work environment. A positive culture is characterized by open communication, mutual respect, and a sense of camaraderie among team members. 

Leaders play a pivotal role in setting the tone by acknowledging and appreciating employees’ contributions, providing constructive feedback, and creating an atmosphere that values work-life balance. Encouraging teamwork, recognizing achievements, and fostering a growth mindset contribute to a positive culture that energizes employees rather than drains them. 

Additionally, organizations can offer wellness programs, flexible work arrangements, and mental health support to demonstrate a genuine commitment to employee well-being. By prioritizing a positive culture, companies not only enhance job satisfaction but also build a resilient workforce better equipped to handle challenges, ultimately reducing the risk of employee burnout.

  • Provide Feedback & Transparency

Insufficient feedback and a lack of transparency from management often contribute to employee burnout. Employers can empower their staff by acknowledging their strengths and providing opportunities for skill development.

Regular check-ins and progress meetings benefit both managers and staff. These interactions not only allow employees to voice their concerns but also foster an inclusive workplace. When employees feel valued and appreciated, their engagement increases, leading to a reduction in the likelihood of burnout. By prioritizing open communication and transparency, organizations can create a culture that supports continuous improvement and personal growth, contributing to a healthier and more resilient workforce.

Also read: 9 Mistakes to Avoid When Delivering 360-Degree Feedback

  • Establish a “Psychologically Safe” Setting

A psychologically safe workplace means creating a welcoming space where team members can freely share their thoughts and take reasonable risks without worrying about negative consequences. Suppressing genuine emotions and pretending to be someone else all day leads to burnout, creating unnecessary tension.

In a psychologically safe setting, organizations focus on building mutual trust, practicing active listening, acknowledging and rewarding employees, and fostering open communication within the team. It’s essential to understand that psychological safety goes beyond just being optimistic or assertive; it requires a team effort that everyone, including leadership, actively supports and demonstrates. Prioritizing a psychologically safe environment not only reduces the risk of burnout but also cultivates a culture that values authenticity, innovation, and the well-being of each individual.

Summing Up

In summary, combating workplace burnout requires a holistic approach. Recognizing its signs, understanding its root causes, and implementing effective strategies are vital for a healthier work environment. From acknowledging employee contributions to fostering a positive culture, each step plays a crucial role in preventing burnout.

Providing manageable workloads and ensuring a psychologically safe environment are key factors in this effort. Prioritizing open communication and transparency further contribute to a workplace that values its employees. As organizations navigate change, these practices not only address burnout but also set the stage for ongoing success, creating a workplace where individuals thrive and contribute to lasting achievements.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How can leaders promote a positive work culture to prevent burnout?

Leaders can foster a positive work culture by recognizing and appreciating employee contributions, promoting work-life balance, and encouraging a collaborative and supportive atmosphere. Establishing a culture of gratitude, celebrating achievements, and promoting a growth mindset contribute to a workplace that values employee well-being.

Q2. What role does communication play in reducing employee burnout?

Effective communication is crucial to reducing burnout. Leaders should maintain open channels for feedback, actively listen to their team’s concerns, and transparently communicate organizational changes. Providing clarity on expectations and acknowledging accomplishments fosters a supportive work environment that combats burnout.

Q3. What practical steps can leaders take to ensure manageable workloads?

Leaders can implement practical steps such as setting realistic deadlines, delegating tasks effectively, and avoiding constant overtime expectations. Limiting unnecessary meetings, providing resources for skill development, and encouraging breaks contribute to creating a balanced and achievable workload.

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How to Choose the Best Pulse Survey Topic for Your Organization?

Pulse surveys are powerful tools for gaining real-time insights into employee sentiment and understanding how your workforce is truly feeling. By regularly collecting anonymous feedback, organizations can identify areas of strength, pinpoint potential issues, and make informed decisions that drive positive change.

However, choosing the right pulse survey topic can be challenging. With limited questions and the need for concise responses, organizations need to ensure they’re capturing relevant and actionable feedback. Let’s delve into the key considerations for selecting the best pulse survey topic to ignite your workforce and drive meaningful improvements.

Importance of Pulse Surveys in the Workplace

Benefits of pulse surveysPulse surveys offer a powerful way to engage employees, improve morale, and drive organizational success. This section delves into the key importance of pulse surveys, demonstrating how they can transform the employee experience and contribute to a thriving workplace.

  • Increased Employee Satisfaction

By empowering employees to voice their opinions and concerns, pulse surveys foster a sense of value and belonging. This, in turn, revitalizes the work environment, elevates morale, and contributes to a more positive and fulfilling experience.

  • Reduced Employee Turnover

High employee engagement, spurred by pulse surveys, directly correlates with lower turnover rates. When employees feel heard, valued, and involved, they are more likely to remain loyal and committed to the organization. It results in higher productivity and profitability for the organization.

  • Enhanced Communication

Pulse surveys provide a platform for open dialogue and feedback, paving the way for a more collaborative and trusting work environment. By actively listening to employees and incorporating their suggestions, organizations can create a culture of transparency and inclusivity.

  • Quick and Cost-Effective

With a limited number of focused questions, pulse surveys are swift to complete and require minimal resources. This makes them a time-efficient and economical solution for gathering valuable insights from a large group of employees.

  • Strategic Decision-Making

The real-time nature of pulse surveys enables organizations to gather timely feedback on specific initiatives or changes. This information is invaluable for making data-driven decisions, refining strategies, and ensuring that organizational direction aligns with employee expectations.

Also Read: Types of Survey Questions: All You Need to Know

Tips for Choosing the Best Pulse Survey Topic for Your Organization

The major purpose of conducting pulse surveys is to uncover trends and patterns and improve employee involvement levels. The feedback received encourages employers to take proactive efforts toward enhancing the overall work environment. Selecting effective pulse survey topics involves thorough planning and consideration of many factors. Here are some guidelines to help you create a successful pulse survey that offers insightful information and aids in goal achievement

1. Set Definite Goals

Start by clearly defining the objectives of your pulse survey and outlining the specific insights you want to gain, aligning them with your company’s overarching goals. This clarity guides the determination of an optimal sample size and the formulation of relevant questions.

Articulating clear goals is crucial, as they shape both the structure and evaluation of your survey. What do you want to uncover through this survey? Which specific aspects of your organization’s dynamics are you seeking to assess or enhance? Answering these fundamental questions provides a coherent blueprint for an effective pulse survey. Common objectives for deploying pulse surveys include the following:

  • Monitoring employee engagement
  • Analyzing the leadership’s responsibility
  • Obtaining feedback before, during, or following change
  • Identifying areas for improvement
  • Tracking progress and performance

2. Identify the Participants

Focus on one or two critical areas of interest in pulse surveys to avoid overwhelming respondents with a multitude of topics in a concise poll, which may diminish their willingness to provide honest feedback. Therefore, it is crucial to carefully consider your survey audience.

Decisions at the departmental level may impact a limited number of employees, whereas broader issues may necessitate input from the entire organization. Therefore, choose the pulse survey participants based on the following criteria:

  • The entire workforce, if the topic requires feedback from all employees.
  • Specific teams or departments, such as finance, HR, sales, operations, etc.
  • Particularly distinctive individuals, such as recent hires or remote employees.

3. Modify the Survey Format

Different survey questions elicit distinct responses and insights. Open-ended questions yield qualitative insights and valuable comments, while closed-ended inquiries provide quantitative responses.

Each question type has its limitations and serves different objectives. To seamlessly integrate quantitative and qualitative questions, it’s crucial to identify the information required to achieve the project’s goals.

Opt for a diverse array of question formats to create a blended survey, fostering a spectrum of insights. Incorporate questions with multiple choices, rating scales, open-ended responses, and quantitative data. The selection of formats can also be influenced by the timeline. If immediate results are necessary, opt for forms with multiple-choice questions for swift completion. Conversely, if the results can be delayed by a week or more, encouraging detailed responses can provide more comprehensive insights for management.

4. Use a Pulse Survey Tool

One of the main objectives of a pulse survey is engagement. With the help of a pulse survey tool, you can make your survey even more interesting. Invest in a user-friendly survey creation platform with advanced features like analytics, reports, question libraries, templates, and a dashboard-like user interface.

A pulse survey tool like Engagedly comes with robust tracking and sharing functionalities and dozens of top pulse survey topics to help you get started. It removes uncertainty from the process and enables you to put together innovative surveys that are interesting and can be filled up in just a few minutes.

5. Involve Employees

Engage your staff in choosing the topics for the pulse survey. Ensure your chosen topics are quantifiable, doable, and within your control area. Organize focus groups, feedback sessions, or anonymous suggestion boxes to get employees’ opinions on the topics they think should be covered in the surveys. This boosts survey participation and relevance while promoting transparency.

6. Set the Questionnaire Based on Urgency

Assess the significance and urgency of each prospective pulse survey topic based on employee feedback, organizational priorities, and current challenges. Determine the subjects that are most relevant to your objectives and have a big impact on employee engagement and productivity. Addressing the most immediate issues guarantees that the survey’s findings produce useful information and actionable suggestions.

Summing Up

Pulse surveys offer a valuable and accessible tool for organizations of all sizes to gain real-time insights into employee sentiment and drive positive change. By aligning your survey topic with strategic objectives, prioritizing actionable data, and actively engaging your workforce, you can unlock the full potential of pulse surveys.

Remember, the most effective pulse surveys are not one-time events but rather ongoing dialogues that foster trust, transparency, and a culture of continuous improvement. By regularly collecting feedback and acting on the insights gained, organizations can create a more engaged, productive, and ultimately successful workplace.

free e10 Survey

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What questions do I ask in a pulse survey?

You must carefully choose the questions to keep the survey brief, easy to fill, focused, and interesting. If you use pulse survey builder software, the task is well handled because the system provides a large library of questions. However, if you are manually constructing the survey, you must be careful that attention doesn’t drift from the central topic. Examples include:

  • How satisfied are you with the newest work-from-home regulations?
  • Do you think your employer gives you the recognition you deserve?
  • Do your responsibilities allow a work-life balance?

Q2. How frequently should a pulse survey be conducted?

Overusing or underusing surveys can reduce employee engagement and trust. To reliably measure change, pulse surveys should be sent either once a month or once a week. You can send short surveys weekly or bi-monthly. Longer surveys can be sent out once a quarter or biannually.

Q3. Why is a pulse survey used?

A pulse survey is used to quickly gather feedback on specific topics, such as employee satisfaction, engagement, and performance. It provides organizations with timely insights to make informed decisions and address key areas of concern or improvement.

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Benefits of Pulse Surveys for Hybrid and Remote Workforces in 2024

As organizations continue to embrace hybrid and remote work arrangements, the need for effective communication and feedback mechanisms becomes increasingly crucial. Pulse surveys provide a valuable tool for bridging the gap between management and employees, fostering a culture of open communication and continuous improvement. By regularly gathering employee insights, organizations can gain valuable insights into employee sentiment, identify potential areas for concern, and address issues promptly before they escalate. This proactive approach to employee engagement can help organizations build a more resilient and adaptable workforce capable of thriving in the ever-evolving work landscape.

In this blog post, we will discuss the benefits of pulse surveys and share some insights on creating effective pulse surveys.

Benefits of Pulse Surveys for Hybrid Workforce

Pulse surveys in the workplace
Types of survey questions

The future of hybrid work is bright and filled with perks for employers and employees. The Times of India has called it the new norm; 82% of workers prefer working from home. So, it is time for managers and organizations to adapt to this new work trend and start offering remote work options. Pulse surveys are particularly helpful in managing employees who work remotely full-time or in the hybrid workforce. The following are the benefits of pulse surveys for a dispersed workforce:

  • Enhanced Communication

The top benefit of pulse surveys for a hybrid team is open communication. Regular check-ins can help connect the team and foster effective communication, which is key in managing hybrid working arrangements. Effective communication paves the way for trust-building and better organizational performance.

Also read: Why Does Workplace Communication Matter?

  • Employee Retention

The qualitative information from pulse surveys can be used to assess employee sentiment. The areas where your employees are content and satisfied and those that require improvement can be determined using the survey response data. This can help increase employee retention rates and ultimately save costs on hiring and training new staff.

  • Improved Employee Morale

Regularly conducting survey checks on your remote teams can significantly boost employee motivation and morale. These check-ins demonstrate your genuine interest in their opinions and thoughts, fostering a sense of inclusion and empowerment. By actively seeking their feedback, you create a culture of open communication and value their contributions. This approach not only enhances employee engagement but also strengthens their commitment to their job and loyalty to the organization.

  • Improved Performance Evaluation

Employee pulse surveys are a useful tool for improving the performance appraisal process for employees, especially those that are part of a remote team. These surveys generate regular, reliable data streams that can be successfully included in performance evaluations.

Employers can use this data to generate routine employee profiles and monitor changes in their levels of engagement. These details are important for giving managers clear, unbiased, and employee-centric performance insights.

  • Resolve Remote Work Challenges

Leveraging pulse surveys enables management to identify and understand the challenges faced by remote workers. Common issues include feelings of isolation, distractions, unreliable internet connections, time zone management, and blurred boundaries between personal and professional life. Armed with insights from pulse surveys, organizations can proactively implement adjustments and establish new guidelines to effectively tackle these challenges.

  • Well-Being Assessment

According to studies, employees’ job happiness and engagement vary daily, depending on their personal and environmental situations. A yearly survey is unlikely to assist you in identifying troubling drops in employee well-being in time or at all. With pulse surveys, you can spot these declines early on and take preventative action.

  • Reduced Stress

Pulse surveys help reduce employee stress by identifying workplace challenges and providing insights into the root causes of stressors. This allows organizations to implement targeted solutions, create a more supportive work environment, and address issues that contribute to stress, ultimately improving employee well-being.

  • Increased Team Collaboration

Pulse surveys can increase team collaboration by collecting real-time feedback on communication, identifying collaboration barriers, and fostering a culture of open communication. This insight allows organizations to make data-driven improvements, enhance teamwork, and create a more collaborative work environment.

  • Aligning with Company Goals

Misalignment occurs when staff do not identify with their company’s objectives, mission, and vision. This causes many issues, including poor team performance, workplace confusion, organizational silos, low employee productivity, and a negative employee experience. Pulse surveys can help you identify and correct that misalignment by reiterating company goals and every department’s contributions to those goals.

Also read: Go from Me to We with Team Pulse!

Crafting Effective Pulse Surveys to Gauge Remote Employee Sentiment

To effectively harness the power of pulse surveys in 2024, it’s crucial to ask your remote employees the right questions. Here are some key areas to explore:

  1. Work-Life Balance: Assess employees’ ability to manage their personal and professional responsibilities, gaining insights into their overall well-being and potential work-life balance challenges.
  2. Communication Effectiveness: Evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of various communication channels, seeking feedback on preferred communication methods and potential improvements.
  3. Employee Well-being: Incorporate questions about employees’ overall well-being, fostering a sense of care and connection between the organization and its remote workforce.
  4. Performance Expectations Clarity: Ensure employees have a clear understanding of performance expectations for specific projects or tasks, minimizing ambiguity and promoting alignment.
  5. Project Feedback: Gather feedback on ongoing or recently completed projects to identify areas for improvement and areas of strength, guiding process optimization and continuous improvement initiatives.

Tips to Design Pulse Surveys

Following are some tips and tricks to help you make the most of the benefits of pulse surveys in 2024:

  • Keep Surveys Anonymous

To ensure honesty, you should maintain the confidentiality of the employees’ responses obtained through the surveys. It can build trust and a positive work culture where employees can freely express their opinions and thoughts.

This practice is especially important in a remote or hybrid workplace since misalignment of values or objectives and a communication gap can derail productivity. Keeping the responses anonymous is imperative to getting an honest evaluation of the employee experience.

  • Embrace Technology

Utilizing digital engagement survey tools is essential because your hybrid staff is dispersed across time zones and geographies. You can easily communicate with your remote or hybrid workforce using online tools or specialized employee feedback software.

These tools provide a range of functionalities and features, including robust data privacy measures, role-based access controls, personalized dashboards, and seamless report sharing capabilities. Additionally, these systems prove invaluable when it comes to reviewing or disseminating past data among team members or stakeholders.

  • Clear and Concise

Try to keep your pulse survey as short and as relevant as possible. Too many questions can overwhelm your employees and result in survey fatigue. Employees might not respond honestly or at all to lengthy surveys.

  • Be Creative

Make pulse surveys interactive by incorporating a variety of question formats. Instead of solely relying on multiple-choice questions, include open-ended inquiries, rating systems, and interactive components like sliders or graphic representations. This diverse approach ensures that employees can provide holistic and detailed feedback, capturing a broader range of insights. Interactive features engage participants and make the survey experience more dynamic and enjoyable, fostering increased participation and valuable responses.

  • Act and Communicate

Collecting survey results is just the first step; the real value lies in taking meaningful actions and fostering transparent communication. Once the data is collected, analyze it promptly, identify key insights, and implement necessary changes or improvements. Communicate these actions back to the employees, demonstrating that their feedback is not only heard but also acted upon. This proactive approach enhances trust, engagement, and collaboration within the organization, making pulse surveys a powerful tool for continuous improvement and employee satisfaction.

Summing Up

Pulse surveys are essential for managing remote and hybrid teams. They encourage open communication, highlight difficulties, enhance employee morale, and track their well-being. To get the most out of surveys, make them confidential and brief, embrace technology, and act quickly on the results. Adaptability and proactive communication are essential to creating a productive and connected hybrid work environment.

With Engagedly’s AI-powered team pulse module, organizations can harness the cutting-edge capabilities of artificial intelligence to gain deeper insights into team dynamics, employee sentiment, and overall workplace well-being. This module goes beyond traditional survey methods, offering a dynamic and adaptive approach that aligns with the evolving needs of the workforce.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What can a remote or hybrid team pulse survey include?

Pulse surveys can include questions about employee satisfaction, communication effectiveness, well-being, clarity of performance expectations, and feedback on ongoing projects. These questions provide insights into employee experiences, challenges, and engagement levels in the hybrid work environment.

Q2. How often should you conduct pulse surveys?

While weekly or monthly pulse surveys offer real-time feedback for organizations that want to react quickly to employee problems, HR can also consider quarterly surveys. Try and test what works best for your organization. There is no one-size-fits-all kind of situation. 

Q3. What is survey fatigue?

Survey fatigue is when respondents grow weary, uninterested, or overburdened during surveys. It usually happens if you ask the same questions too often and do not act on the suggestions.

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How to Approach Employees About Career Development

A LinkedIn report suggests that 94% of employees surveyed feel that providing learning and career development opportunities encourages them to stay longer with the organization. 

With the advent of the great resignation, it can be deduced that the current workforce isn’t the same as it was three years ago. People are quitting their jobs in search of more fulfilling career opportunities, and thus, the way talent management used to work has to evolve.

Businesses must realize that prioritizing retention and attracting top talent is paramount to organizational success. From offering opportunities to work remotely to providing pathways for career progression, businesses should shift their focus on adopting employee-centric initiatives to improve the appeal of their work environment to current and future employees. 

Old-school talent management practices boast of training employees as one of the best practices for talent management. However, the contribution a robust career development provides to the company’s success is invaluable. This blog aims to understand the significance of employee career advancement opportunities, its benefits, and best practices.

The Concept of Career Development 

Career development is an intra-organizational mechanism that shapes employees’ career paths. The process aims at planning, preparing for, and advancing an employee’s career over time. It involves coaching, mentoring, skills development, networking, and setting and achieving career growth goals.

The process of career development is crucial for both employees and employers. It includes the continuous upgradation of the skills and competencies of employees to meet the job’s current demands. Additionally, it provides organizations with a workforce ready to handle challenges head-on, thereby successfully navigating the complexities of the evolving work landscape. 

Benefits of Career Development for Employees 

Career development in the workplaceA survey by Gallup found that 87% of millennials feel professional growth plays a pivotal role in creating a robust employee experience. Employees who lack opportunities for career growth and guidance in setting their career goals often experience burnout, leading them to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Employees need to feel valued, that their goals and development are essential, and that their employer cares about them achieving those goals. Here are four ways career development benefits an employee and the organization.

  • Boosts Productivity 

When employees are assigned definite goals and given access to resources that help in achieving those goals, they learn new skills and, in turn, improve their productivity. Employee engagement also increases when employees are given a practical training ground to exercise what they have learned. Consequently, what employees learn can be passed on to their team members, contributing to the team culture.

  • Helps Employee Retention 

Talent retention is one of the biggest challenges that labor marketing is facing today. Providing employees with career development opportunities is a great way to invest in talent because it communicates to them that they are important. A survey by Better Buys reveals that professional development can improve retention rates by up to 34%.

  • Attracts Top Talent 

A LinkedIn report regarding hiring trends highlights that employees consider organizational culture as one of the core factors while looking for a job. They feel that career development is one of the major factors in determining an organization’s culture. To attract and retain the best talent, an organization must offer incentives that its counterparts don’t.

  • Increases Profitability 

One of the most important benefits of an employee development program is the potential to increase an organization’s profitability. Employee career development boosts engagement, thereby creating a collaborative and productive workforce.

Engaged employees align their personal goals with the organization’s vision and values. This alignment not only encourages retention but also drives up profits and productivity. When team members prioritize their roles and find fulfillment in working towards a shared goal or vision, the organization’s profitability can significantly increase.

Also read: Benefits of Implementing an Employee Career Development Program

How to Support Employee Career Development? 

Following are the seven strategies employers can use to promote the development of employees:

  • Take an interest in employee career goals 

Make sure you communicate frequently with your team members. To assist employees in seeing their future with the firm, managers must describe a possible career path for them within the organization. This involves determining the precise benchmarks for success and the supplementary resources workers may need to use along the way. Open, direct communication between managers and employees regarding career trajectories is crucial. Showing a personal interest in an employee’s career goals becomes even more important when managing a remote team.

Also read: A Beginners Guide To Effective One On One Meetings

  • Provide training and development opportunities 

Regular on-the-job training and education programs should support employee learning and development. Employers should encourage team members to enroll in appropriate business courses and online learning portals to boost their professional development. 

A survey by Zippia reveals that 92% of employees feel well-planned learning and development plans can positively impact employee engagement. Apart from nurturing individual needs and honing specific talents, it’s crucial to keep employees updated on broader industry advancements.

Hosting lunch-and-learn events via video with either external or internal guest speakers is a convenient and affordable strategy. Moreover, give your staff the time and freedom to attend professional events.

  • Implement mentoring and job shadowing 

Job shadowing is a training program wherein new hires learn tasks by following and observing an experienced employee who has been performing the role for some time. Encouraging a formal mentoring program or job shadowing can help workers grow personally and professionally.

Senior employees can share their well-earned knowledge and advice with less experienced peers. In turn, they can gain from emerging personnel’s new ideas and technical know-how.

  •  Promote job rotation across departments and levels 

Job rotation promotes employee growth and reduces employee turnover and stress. The practice creates an atmosphere that fosters fresh thoughts and perspectives on the work being done by the organization and further helps improve employee satisfaction and engagement.

  • Support employees’ work-life balance 

Encourage your staff to work efficiently, be as productive as possible, and take time out for extracurricular activities. Being proactive about the health of your team members can help reduce their stress.

Organizations can boost employee morale by implementing flexible work policies that improve work-life balance. Assist employees in prioritizing work, managing personal responsibilities, and even partaking in professional development events that can enhance their careers.

  • Recognize and acknowledge good performance 

Employees’ roles become more meaningful when their contributions to the company’s mission are recognized. Additionally, it increases their desire to take on more responsibility and move up the organizational ladder. Hence, give regular feedback on employees’ performance and let them know how their work impacts the organization daily. Highlight the company’s progress towards important goals and appreciate employees for their contributions to the company’s success.

Also read: Best Employee Recognition Ideas For 2023

  • Create a succession plan well in advance 

Succession planning aids in retaining top talent by providing career development opportunities and a clear path for advancement. Have a succession plan in place for all the key positions in the company. It helps motivate employees to learn new skills and work on new projects needed for career advancement.

Examples of Career Development Programs 

Organizations implement several career development programs to accelerate employee development. Below are some of the real-life examples of career development programs undertaken by organizations to support employee growth:

Workday employs a skill-based HR strategy to help staff members identify and develop certain skills. Using exclusive technologies like Career Hub, they link people with opportunities to work in various teams and departments.

Randstad has successfully implemented a global mentoring program for its employees. It has established a university for its internal learning management. The in-house LMS (Learning Management System) provides employees with an extensive catalog of courses related to workplace compliance, business development, etc.

Heineken adopted the reverse mentoring program to help senior leaders connect with junior employees and gain new skills and experiences. Additionally, Heineken’s diversity and inclusion program (DE&I) gave its employees the tools they needed to embrace the culture of the various countries it does business in.

Also read: Building Diversity and Inclusion In Your Workplace

Growth Ideas for Employees Examples 

Embarking on a career growth journey involves cultivating a deep sense of purpose while being vigilant in seizing opportunities as they present themselves. Here are some proven strategies for fostering career advancement:

  1. Expand the job description of an employee to allow them to learn more. 
  2. Offer promotions to let the employee move up within the current organization.
  3. Offer more responsibility and a better job title.
  4. Facilitate employees in forging meaningful connections and expanding their professional networks by enabling participation in conferences and meet-ups aimed at enhancing their networking capabilities.
  5. Allow employees to contribute to the decision-making process.

Summing Up 

As workplace dynamics continue to evolve, businesses seeking to retain talent and improve their bottom line will need to pivot. One of the most powerful strategies to adapt to an evolving marketplace and retain talent is to build a strong and resilient career development program.

A good performance management system is one method companies can use to help employees understand their goals and contributions to the business’s overall growth. Engagedly offers a great performance management solution for a more accessible user experience. The all-in-one platform ensures employees have a robust career development plan that they can create in collaboration with their managers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What does an effective career development program include?  

An effective career development program incorporates tailored training, mentorship, and opportunities for skill enhancement, aligning individual goals with organizational needs to foster professional growth and advancement.

Q2. How does career planning differ from career development? 

Career development encompasses career planning and management. Career planning is part of career development. It includes identifying and implementing actions to achieve certain career goals.

Q3. What initiatives can organizations take to build an employee’s career path?  

Building an employee’s career path needs to start from the onboarding process itself. Learn about each employee’s career goals, including their skills, education, experience, and other qualifications. Define professional development levels and assess the skill gap that needs to be addressed to help employees advance to each level.

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Managing Virtual Teamwork in 2024

Today, the concept of a virtual team is an emerging trend. Everyone is aware of what a virtual team is and the advantages it offers companies. We’ve found that leading an effective virtual team has its own advantages!

A virtual team would typically consist of individuals who work primarily from home. In this article, we’ll discuss what is virtual teamwork and some tips for managing teams virtually.

Let’s get started. 

What is Virtual Teamwork?

Virtual teamwork or remote team or dispersion is a group of people collaborating remotely for a typical project and communicating via team management tools such as slack, email, Skype, and others. This team usually works from different geographical locations. A stat from Culture wizard shows that 89% of virtual teams must include more than two cultures to enhance their company transition.  

Virtual Teamwork in 2022

How to Manage Virtual Teamwork?

Communication plays a significant role while working virtually. Transmitting information is quite troublesome when you don’t choose the right way to manage teams. To improve, you must follow certain things to handle your teams and increase productivity effectively. Some of the best ways to drive virtual teamwork are:

  • Understand the company’s needs and divide the operation among expertise
  • Create internal guidelines that allow employees to heed specific rules while communicating
  • Tools like Zoom help to avoid messy distractions using the hide background option
  • Use an internal chat, project management, and goal-setting tools for the best team results. In this way, set proper communication, save time, and achieve the target goal in a short period.  
  • Conduct consistent 1:1 feedback sessions with teammates. It helps in solving problems and increases team engagement. 
  • Performing virtual team-building activities is crucial to providing opportunities to understand the virtual team members outside of work. It enhances the cultural balance of the company. 

Importance of Virtual Team Building

There’s a lot of difference between working physically and virtually. A diverse live workspace helps to cultivate a workplace culture that inspires inclusion, but remote working causes them to feel isolated, worried, and even stressed out. During that time, virtual team-building activities will enable the employees to interact and make them feel like part of a team. 

Before organizing activities, create a friendly environment for team workers to express themselves without trouble. You can set up virtual games such as Icebreaker. They must be active listeners, learning and adapting to change. Build engaging teams to bring potential results & offsetting work culture jovially using certain technologies. 

Also Read: Virtual Team Building: Making Virtual Teams Work

5 Tips for Managing Virtual Teams

Building a phenomenal team compels specific measures to help your team achieve better results.

1. Provide the Right Tools for Employees

A virtual workspace differs from a typical office. Growth of productivity and employability will become lower when you don’t use the right tools to track down their work. Present technologies are used to produce effective results, like an in-person office. You need to analyze the necessity of remote employees to complete tasks without fail. 

For business strategy and planning, experts use the best CRM platform to track customers and build new campaigns for company growth. Likewise, there are numerous software tools to handle remote teams for communication, data security, project management, employee activity tracking & reporting, team collaboration, employee recognition, and more. Each category is significant in improving the work culture of the company. 

2. Avoid Complexity & Be Creative

Don’t use too many tools to manage employees because it leads to micromanagement. You can overcome that crisis using the perfect plan to handle the multi-function of the organization. Did you know remote work became less enjoyable due to the curbs of creative imagination? 

Think from the aspect of employees and develop new strategies to enhance the mobility of virtual teamwork. For this, you need to plan the outline, diversify the task, track the performance & optimize the process. Multiple tools are available online to make the whole progress easier. Be wise to choose the correct method to create an influential work culture for dispersion. 

3. Use One Universal Language

Communication is essential for virtual teamwork. Internet penetration is higher across the world. Before switching to a more effective team communication strategy, don’t wait until miscommunications have already occurred. Nothing will be misunderstood if the common language is recognized and practiced. Different people speak multiple languages. You can’t learn all the languages, can you? Thus, choosing one common language to deliver information is essential. 

Seek the majority language or common one to communicate with multiple users. Pick wisely on selecting a communication tool. Various excellent tools are available for communicating, assigning tasks, and tracking employees’ progress. 

4. Track Progress of Remote Employees 

Even if remote working has many benefits, it also has a particular set of difficulties. Employers and managers must therefore monitor the success of remote teams in addition to challenges with hiring remote workers, security, communication, and project management. Keeping track of projects, specific tasks, and overall performance can be challenging. This advancement is nothing but time taken to complete one task to improve the value of the program. 

What about dispersion users? You can track the development easily using advanced software tools. For instance, Trello software is a great tool to track each step of the progress of employees & work agile to complete the project prominently. 

5. Project Management System

It can be challenging to remain on top of activities and due dates when managing projects and teams across time zones and geographic locations. Managing the platform allows you to understand the growth of completing projects & sort out errors by analyzing the whole network. 

Tools for virtual project management collaboration facilitate coordination and tracking of team members‘ task progress while standardizing processes among team members from various locations.

Virtual team collaboration solutions must have specific capabilities like time tracking, task management, instant messaging, productive communication, and CRM integration. 

Conclusion 

To start a business requires high costs to maintain the company ambiance, project process, and employee work culture. Nowadays, it’s easier and cost-effective to begin online businesses. The best part is you can hire any employee on a contract or full-time basis anywhere worldwide. All you have to do is set up a proper communication panel & set the current and future trends in remote work.

To get things done effortlessly, follow the tips mentioned in this article & develop the skyrocketing business to attain higher results. Increase profits for the company as well as rewards for teamwork. Build a stress-free environment to robust a virtual team effectively. 

virtual teamwork

This article is written by Divya Rajendran.

virtual teamwork in 2022

Divya is a marketer, nature lover, and startup enthusiast. She loves doing SEO outreach for SaaS websites. She always follows three principles in life: “happy with what you have,” “Respect everyone’s thoughts,” and “Avoid comparison.”

The Necessity of Crisis Management Training for Today’s and Future Leaders

Crisis management is a shared responsibility that extends from the boardroom to the field. A better understanding of crises can help an organization’s members prepare for any eventuality. Learning about crisis management training can help you understand its significance and determine whether you want to take such a course. This article discusses the definition of crisis management training, why it is important, what the best leaders do in times of crisis, how to adapt and lead in a crisis, and some frequently asked questions related to this field.

What Precisely is Crisis Management Training?

Crisis management training is preparing professionals to assist organizations during a crisis. The training can include a discussion of various scenarios, such as natural disasters and financial recessions, that may have a significant impact on the health of an organization. Crisis management training can include specific instructions on how to handle specific situations.

What is the Significance of Crisis Management Training?

crisis management in the workplaceCrisis management training is important because professionals’ ability to effectively handle business-related crises can have a significant impact on long-term organizational success. The overall goal of this training is for an organization to provide tools, knowledge, and practical skills to employees who are not experts in crisis management so that they can effectively manage crises if they occur. There are various approaches to crisis management training, which vary depending on organizational needs, company culture, and available resources.

Also read: How to Prepare for the Future of the Remote Workforce in 2023

7 Things Best Leaders Should Do in Times of Crisis

Because of the vast amount of change and the prevailing uncertainty, a static system will not work for leaders in the current state of affairs. Instead, leadership in crisis management requires a methodical approach that is agile, current, and accurate. They cannot rely on their previous leadership abilities to navigate these unprecedented times; they require a new compass. This results in the need of highly trained coaches who specialize in crisis and recovery leadership.

When there is a lot of uncertainty and ambiguity, people look to their leaders for answers. Here are seven strategies that effective leaders employ in these situations:

1. Provide a Specific Direction

Even when visibility is low during a crisis, leaders owe their people a clear sense of direction. Their focus can be on the short term, which, when combined with regular updates, allows them to respond to constant and rapid change.

2. Concentrate on People

Leaders must consider the human factor more than they have in the past. They must lead people as individuals. Leaders must offer proactive support, encouragement, and engagement to their employees because they are worried and uncertain.

3. Discover a Coach

Leaders must rediscover their humanity and bring it to the workplace — for many, this is the first time. They must discover in themselves the “soft areas” that allow them to connect with their team members beyond the crisis. This magnitude of change is nearly impossible to achieve without assistance or direction, which is where coaching can help.

4. Be Open and Honest

Leaders can inspire trust in times of crisis by providing transparent and frequent information about what they know and don’t know. Employees will develop the trust that is currently lacking in the world if the right information is provided at the right time.

In such times, leaders can also inspire hope, but it must be open-ended and without a deadline. No one knew in the beginning how long the pandemic will last, so offering a timeline (“it will be over by the summer”) would have been a mistake. If that timeline is incorrect, it could harm morale and psychological resilience.

5. Foster self-leadership

Leaders must set an example by pushing themselves beyond their concerns and uncertainties. Leading others in a crisis is difficult and almost unethical without self-leadership.

Self-leadership in turbulent waters is a process that begins with leaders deciding to stand up for their principles or values. They go beyond their limitations and difficulties to convey those principles and values, and they chart a clear course and vision for themselves. Only then can they provide that direction to those they lead.

6. Concern for Their Colleagues

Leaders must assist their team members in overcoming their fears so that they can return to being successful employees. They must legitimize people’s concerns rather than dismiss them. Great leaders such as Winston Churchill, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela are examples of this leadership trait.

7. Develop Your Leadership Skills

True leadership in crisis guides others from where they are to where they know they can go. Employees grow and develop with the right leaders, reaching new heights of achievement. Not everyone who is promoted to management is a true leader. Real leaders constantly learn and grow, and they recognize the greatness in themselves and others.

Going through a crisis is a rite of passage for any aspiring leader. After all, being a good manager is easy when everything is going well, but your ability as a leader is truly tested when there is a true crisis.

Also Read: 4 Stages of a Performance Management CycleThe Essential Guide To Employee Productivity In A Hybrid Setup

While leadership in crisis management is high on a manager’s priority list, it is also one of the most difficult areas to navigate. As a result, it’s not surprising that a company’s crisis preparation can range from $60,000 to $500,000. (depending on the industry and location). Unprepared companies in a crisis can spend millions of dollars on mitigation while losing hundreds of millions in reputation and shareholder value.

The real problem with crisis management is that it is so unpredictable. You never know when or how a crisis will occur. Think about the Covid-19 pandemic. We would have laughed if someone had told us in 2019 that the world would be in a two-year lockdown with a massive shift to remote work.

Meanwhile, according to a Spiceworks survey, while 95% of organizations have a crisis recovery plan in place, 23% never test the effectiveness of that plan. And, among those who do not test their plans, 61% blame a lack of time, while 53% blame insufficient resources.

As a result, it’s safe to say that most leaders are not only mentally unprepared to cope with a crisis, but they also don’t know how to manage their workforce in a high-risk situation.

How to Be an Effective Crisis Manager

leadership in times of crisisA leader is expected to play various roles depending on the stage of a crisis. For example, in the early stages of a crisis, when its nature is ambiguous, you will be expected to be a problem solver and propose various solutions. Later on, when the facts and figures become clearer, you will be expected to shift gears and make difficult decisions.

The elephant in the room is how to be a better leader all through the leadership in the crisis management process. That is, how can you be a leader who efficiently assists your team in addressing a crisis without them eventually despising you? To put everything in perspective, here are a few pointers on how to be a good crisis leader:

1. Recognize the issue

Leaders may refuse to acknowledge that they are in a crisis, refuse to inform their people about the reality of the situation, make poor decisions, and thus become ineffective crisis leaders. Don’t use your usual strategy of sweeping the problem under the rug. Nobody likes being kept in the dark, and your employees are no exception.

Respect your employees and communicate the situation as it is transparently. However, you should knowbe aware that transparency does not imply negativity. Even if you have bad news to give, don’t get too caught up in it. Inspire your team to consider the big picture rather than what will happen in the short term. Discuss the next steps with your team, the risks involved with the action plan (if any), and what can be done right away to combat the issue.

2. Remove the red tape and minimize friction points

During a crisis, there is no time or space for lengthy deliberations. Limiting the number of friction points should be one of a leader’s top priorities during a crisis. A friction point can be anything that slows down decision-making, from an unnecessary hierarchy in the approval to a lack of emergency funds.

Besides encouraging self-leadership, leadership in crisis management can decrease bureaucracy by appointing a small group of team leaders to speed up decision-making. As a leader, you don’t have the luxury of second-guessing yourself, so for effectively managing a crisis, it all boils down to:

  • Making a no-nonsense priority list- You don’t want your employees squandering their time and effort on the wrong activities. Record your priorities early in the crisis, get your whole team on the same page, and leave some wiggle room for future changes to the plan.
  • Allow your front-line decision-makers complete autonomy- While there will almost certainly be mistakes made, this is an unavoidable part of the process.
  • Prioritize the decisions with the least impact first- To be honest, making the wrong decision, especially under duress, is all too common. That’s why it’s a good idea, to begin with, the decisions that won’t have a big impact and then move on to the ones that will. This ensures that your employees understand what is at peril while also having trust in themselves.

3. Don’t lose sight of your empathy along the way

Your employees may require you now more than ever. Taking care of your people is one of the most crucial things you can do during a crisis.

Not only does leadership in crisis management necessitate empathy for those affected, but it also necessitates the ability to pin down the source of problems by asking the right questions to the right person at the right time. Empathy is the equivalent of saying to your employees, “I care about your happiness and well-being,” but making sure they don’t interpret it as a sign of weakness on your part.

Employees are more committed to their employers when they believe they are more than just a cog in the machine. Empathy allows you to respond to your team’s needs with openness rather than distrust. It’s all about finding a happy medium between compassion and the real world.

The true challenge, however, is to be empathetic while still ensuring that team goals are met. Here are a few pointers to help you balance your empathetic and managerial sides:

  • Create a strong recognition culture- Purposeful recognition, no matter how small, can have a huge impact on the morale of your employees. Even the simple act of saying a sincere “thank you” can give your employees the boost they need, especially during times of crisis. 
  • Hold informal check-ins once a week- Every week, set aside at least five minutes for one-on-one time with your employees. Make these meetings more unique by inviting employees to share their highs and lows from the previous week. Make certain that these conversations cover both the personal and professional elements of your employees’ lives so that you have a complete view of their mental health.
  •  Make sure you have a mental health plan in place to assist employees who may need assistance. 
  • Begin advocating for attainable goals and productivity standards- Dealing with a crisis not only jeopardizes your well-being but also that of your employees. In such circumstances, it is common to experience burnout, stress, and anxiety. It is your responsibility as a leader to foster a positive and uplifting environment in which employees believe they do not need to burn out to accomplish something. You can begin by using the SMART goals framework to help your team members understand what goals are achievable.

4. Develop a strong and adaptable communication strategy

A full-fledged crisis response will necessitate significant involvement and assistance from multiple internal organizational teams. As a result, whatever plan you ultimately implement will almost certainly be thorough, multilayered, and integrated throughout the organization.

However, for such a thorough plan to be successful, your internal teams must be conscious of what, when, and how their respective parts are expected to be carried out. Only if you have a solid communication plan in place to cope with such high-risk situations will you be able to do so.

This is where having an adaptive communication toolbox can assist leaders in cutting through the noise and assisting the team in collaborating effectively throughout all stages of the crisis. It also helps to have prior communication training for you and your team, in addition to having a clear communication strategy. While this may seem obvious, anyone who has been through an organizational crisis understands how different communication in a crisis is from communication during a project launch.

Also Read:  The Essential Guide To Employee Productivity In A Hybrid Setup

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is the need for Crisis Management?

The need for crisis management in an organization arises from the imperative to effectively respond to unexpected disruptions and challenges. It provides a structured approach to handle crises, protect stakeholders, maintain business continuity, and safeguard the organization’s reputation. Crisis management helps mitigate the impact of unforeseen events, ensuring a coordinated and strategic response to navigate through uncertainties and recover swiftly.

Q2. What is the difference between crisis management and crisis leadership?

Crisis management encompasses the entire process of preparing for, responding to, and recovering from a crisis. It involves strategic planning and coordination. On the other hand, crisis leadership specifically focuses on the actions and decisions of leaders during a crisis, playing a crucial role within the broader scope of crisis management.

Q3. What are the most critical crisis-management abilities?

The most critical crisis-management abilities include effective communication, quick decision-making, strategic planning, adaptability, and the ability to coordinate and lead teams under pressure. These skills are essential for successfully navigating and mitigating the impact of unexpected challenges and disruptions.

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7 Ways To Leverage Technologies for Corporate Training

It’s no secret how corporate training is vital for every business. In fact, 68% of employees regard training and development as a critical policy in an organization. 

The statistics don’t lie: Nearly 95% of employees will stay in a company that offers learning opportunities. Meanwhile, companies that invest in training earn a 24% increase in return on investment (ROI).

Leverage Technologies for Corporate Training But of course, you don’t just offer training to your employees. There’s a need to plan, strategize, and optimize your programs. One way to do so is to harness the power of today’s technology.

In this article, we’ll share with you how to leverage technological resources for corporate training. Read on to learn how to use them to your advantage and for the benefit of your employees.

Also Read: Use of AI in Performance Reviews

How To Harness Technology for Effective Corporate Training

There’s no denying the importance of providing employees with corporate training. The benefits of corporate learning and development programs are multifold. They help you achieve the following:

  • Boost employee performance
  • Improve workplace engagement
  • Promote career advancement
  • Increase employee retention
  • Ensure accountability and trust
  • Set organizational standards
  • Establish policy awareness
  • Enhance customer satisfaction
  • Ensure business growth
  • Gain a competitive advantage

To optimize your corporate learning management, what better way to proceed than harnessing the power of modern technology? Digital tools and technological resources used for training can streamline processes, facilitate better learning, and aid both mentors and trainees.

As such, many businesses invest in software technology for their training programs. The proof is in the numbers: The global training software market could grow from $52.7 billion in 2020 to $115.49 billion by 2028. It’s projected to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.34%.

Global training software marketBut how do you make the most of technological resources for your business? Below are ways to leverage technology for your corporate training.

Establish an E-learning Platform

To guarantee robust corporate training, one must set a learning management system (LMS) in place. As such, many companies and organizations are investing in LMS. In fact, the global LMS market size might grow from $17.27 billion in 2022 to $70.83 billion by 2030 at a 19.5% CAGR.

To invest in LMS, establishing an e-learning platform is the first step to take. With the help of technology, here are learning resources you can develop for your training:

  • Online Courses: Tap your training department to create different courses for various processes that trainees can access digitally.
  • Training Resources: Let them develop training materials that trainees and even employees can use quickly and easily. 
  • Frequently Asked Questions: Add FAQs to your e-learning platform that all employees can access, especially your trainees.
  • Knowledge Base: Establish a go-to resource hub for all employees, including trainees looking for answers or needing to hone their skills.

Conduct Online Training Programs

Digital tools and communications technology have become such a game-changer in business. With the advent of globalization, they have paved the way for remote work. Think of the rise of the gig economy and the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.

As such, Ryan Hammill, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Ancient Language Institute, recommends conducting training online. “Since you have employees working in different parts of the world, train them via digital platforms. Leverage online tools such as Zoom, Slack, and Skype.”

That said, consider utilizing technology and conducting the following:

  • Webinars: Conduct seminars via the web to train your employees, no matter where they are in the world.
  • Online Workshops: Offer virtual workshops to enhance the knowledge and hone the skills of your remote employees.
  • Virtual Classrooms: Hold online training and onboarding via online classrooms for newly hired employees.

Create Video Content for Training

Did you know that videos resonate well with people? They are easily digestible and highly memorable for your employees. On the other hand, blocks of text can be boring and overwhelming for trainees looking to learn.

What better way to spruce up your training than using video clips? They can help boost your trainees’ knowledge and skills. Videos can also aid in reskilling and upskilling your employees successfully. 

That said, here are video content pieces you can create for training: 

  • Educational Videos: Produce clips about your company, department, processes, or tasks to educate your trainees. 
  • Tutorial Clips: Create tutorials in the form of videos to assist and guide your learners during the training.
  • Interactive Videos: Consider clickable links, automatic quizzes, and other interactive clips for employee engagement during training.

Use Simulations for Practical Training

You might have heard of the extended reality (XR) technology. This technology provides people with immersive experiences. And using this applies to corporate training as well.

Linda Shaffer, Chief People Operations Officer at Checkr, suggests using simulations for practical training. “They enable trainees to hone their skills as if in real-life settings. Simulations allow them to practice and commit mistakes until they get better and better.”

That said, consider leveraging the following:

  • Virtual Reality: VR is a digital environment offering a fully immersive experience. It lets trainees immerse themselves in online platforms to learn more.
  • Augmented Reality: AR is a view of the real world, but overlaid with digital elements. It allows trainees to perform as if in actual settings but on online platforms.
  • Mixed Reality: MR is a combination of VR and AR. Combining the two creates an e-learning platform for an enhanced experience.

Conduct Interactive Assessments

Corporate training programs don’t only impart knowledge and hone skills. They also require evaluations to see if trainees have learned enough during the actual training. These assessments help you identify areas for improvement and make some necessary changes in your programs.

Jerry Han, CMO at PrizeRebel, suggests offering interactive assessments using technology. “It’s time to go beyond the typical training evaluations. Make these evals creative, engaging, and fun so your trainees learn even better.” 

As such, Han recommends the following:

  • AMP Email Quizzes and Polls: Send emails to your trainees, but embed them with interactive polls and quizzes using AMP technology.
  • Drag-and-drop Activities: Ensure your e-learning platform allows trainees to drag and drop elements for online assessments.
  • Interactive Diagrams: Use diagrams to simplify complex ideas for enhanced learning, but incorporate interactions in the evaluations.
  • Gamified Assessments: What better way to spice up your evaluations than turning them into fun and exciting games?
  • Role-playing Simulations: Consider using XR technology to simulate training interactions and allow role plays.

Consider Gamification for Training

Gaming for training The time has changed for the world of business. To make employees focused, productive, and engaged, you must provide them with the best experience. Gamification in the workplace is best for a fun learning experience. And this practically applies to corporate training.

Below are ways you can turn your training programs into exciting and engaging games:

  • Leaderboard: Let your trainees compete for the top position on your leaderboard based on key metrics.
  • Point System: Award trainees for taking up courses, completing tasks, answering quizzes, or playing games.
  • Achievement Badges: Recognize the trainees’ accomplishments with digital badges they can use online during the course of training.
  • Quests and Challenges: Allow trainees to play course-related games for education and entertainment rolled into one.

Gerald Lombardo, Head of Growth at Popl mentions, “Gamification in the workplace has become an essential tool for modern businesses. It not only transforms training into an engaging experience but also taps into our intrinsic motivation to compete, achieve, and learn. By implementing gamification elements like leaderboards, point systems, badges, and quests, companies can revolutionize their training programs and unlock the full potential of their workforce”.

Set an LMS in place

Earlier, we emphasized the importance of investing in LMS. However, we only covered establishing an e-learning platform for corporate training programs. 

Anthony Martin, Founder and CEO of Choice Mutual, highlighted the value of LMS. “It isn’t just a digital platform used for corporate training; it also serves as the backbone of your programs. It allows you to organize training materials, assist mentors, facilitate trainees, measure performance, and improve programs. 

The LMS goal is to provide both corporate trainers and employee trainees with a seamless and effective training experience. Here’s what to consider:

  • Training Courses and Materials: As mentioned above, create an e-learning platform with all these training resources.
  • Performance Measurement: Set key performance indicators (KPIs) for your training programs and performance management.
  • Progress Tracking: Monitor the performance of every trainee and measure their development against the key metrics.
  • Process Improvement Plan (PIP): Provide struggling employees with PIPs as part of their training programs.

Final Words

Corporate training is crucial in business. It primarily aims to enhance the employees’ knowledge and skills. Along with this is to address performance gaps, increase workforce potential, ensure employee satisfaction, increase business productivity, and more.

Utilizing modern technology is one way to optimize your corporate training program. To maximize it, consider the seven practical ways to leverage technological resources. But before taking the plunge, review your current programs, understand your employee needs, and decide what digital tools and technologies to invest in.

Harnessing the power of today’s technology can kick your corporate training up a notch. Ultimately, that can bring out the best in every employee for the good of your company!

Also Read: Guide to select the right Performance Review Software

Employee Engagement

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How do you leverage technology in training?

Ans. Leveraging technology in training involves:

  1. Online Learning: Using e-learning platforms and courses for convenient access to training materials.
  2. Interactive Content: Incorporating videos, quizzes, and simulations for engaging learning experiences.
  3. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR): Immersing learners in real-life scenarios for hands-on practice.
  4. Learning Management Systems (LMS): Managing and tracking training progress and performance.
  5. Personalization: Tailoring training content to individual needs and progress.

Using technology enhances training by making it more accessible, engaging, and effective.

Q2. How do you leverage technology for competitive advantage?

 

Ans. Leveraging technology for competitive advantage involves:

  1. Innovation: Developing new products, services, or processes with technology.
  2. Efficiency: Streamlining operations and reducing costs through automation and digital tools.
  3. Data Analysis: Using data to make informed decisions and improve strategies.
  4. Customer Engagement: Enhancing customer experiences through digital platforms and communication.
  5. Agility: Adapting quickly to market changes and staying ahead of competitors.

By embracing technology, businesses gain a competitive edge, driving growth and success.

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How To Create a Culture of Idea Sharing in the Workplace?

In order to foster productivity and innovation, it is essential for a workplace to cultivate a culture of idea-sharing. This involves creating an environment where employees feel empowered to share their thoughts and are receptive to new ideas. When employees feel comfortable expressing their views, they are more likely to contribute creatively and be more productive. To achieve this, consider implementing the following strategies to promote a culture of sharing idea in your workplace.

1. Encourage Employees To Share Their Ideas

Good ideas are the lifeblood of any successful organization. Without fresh ideas, businesses stagnate and eventually fail. That’s why it’s so important to encourage employees to share their ideas. When employees feel free to share their ideas, it helps create a culture of idea-sharing that can be a powerful engine for growth.

Of course, not all ideas are equally good, and it’s essential to have a process to evaluate and select the best ones. But even the act of sharing ideas can help to generate new and better ideas. So if you want to create a company culture of innovation, start by encouraging your employees to share their ideas.

2. Create an Open-Minded Environment

Creating an open-minded environment is essential for fostering a culture of idea-sharing. The best way to do this is to encourage employees to challenge the status quo and think outside the box. Employees who feel they must conform to a particular form of thinking are much less likely to share their ideas.

But if they feel like their ideas are welcome, they’ll be more likely to share them. One way to create an open-minded environment is to promote diversity in the workplace. When people of different backgrounds and perspectives come together, they bring a wealth of other ideas. 

Another way to create an open-minded environment is to encourage debate and discussion.

Also Read: How to Change Your Organizational Culture

3. Hold Brainstorming Sessions

Brainstorming is a great way to generate new ideas. When you bring employees together to brainstorm, they can share their ideas and build on each other’s thoughts. Brainstorming can also help break down barriers between employees, making it easier for them to share their ideas in the future.

If you want to hold a successful brainstorming session, you should keep a few things in mind. First, make sure everyone feels comfortable participating. Second, encourage employees to think outside the box. And third, ensure you have a process for evaluating and selecting the best ideas.

4. Reward Employees for Sharing Their Ideas

To encourage employees to share their ideas, you must ensure they’re rewarded. This doesn’t mean you have to give them a raise or a bonus every time they come up with a good idea. But it does mean you should recognize and reward employees willing to share their thoughts.

This could be done through a formal awards program or simply by verbally thanking employees for their contributions. Whatever form it takes, rewarding employees for sharing their ideas will help to create a culture of idea-sharing in your workplace.

Also Read: Tips for Employee Recognition and Rewards

5. Implement a Policy of ‘No Judgment’

Employees who feel like their ideas will be met with judgment are much less likely to share them. That’s why it’s so important to have a policy of ‘no judgment’ in the workplace and this should be implemented from the time you interview a candidate. This doesn’t mean that you should never critique an idea.

But it does mean that employees should feel comfortable sharing their views without fear of being judged. One way to create a ‘no judgment’ policy is to have a designated space for employees to share their thoughts. This could be a physical space like a brainstorming room, or an online space, like a forum or chat room.

Another way to create a ‘no judgment’ policy is to encourage anonymous idea sharing. This way, employees can share their ideas without fear of being judged.

Conclusion

Fostering a workplace culture centered around sharing ideas is crucial for driving innovation. The optimal approach involves cultivating an open-minded environment, conducting brainstorming sessions, and recognizing employees for actively sharing their ideas. The implementation of a ‘no judgment’ policy further encourages a free flow of ideas. Follow these strategies to establish a robust culture of idea-sharing in your workplace.

High Performance Culture

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Why is it important to share ideas at work?

Ans. The culture of idea sharing at the workplace helps you to broaden your reach with your network of connections. Sharing ideas with your coworkers helps them to gain knowledge, which can be used in their work.

Q2. How do you reward employee ideas?

Ans. Some ways to give rewards to employee ideas are:

  1. Lunch with the boss
  2. Company apparel
  3. ‘Thank you’ meeting
  4. Certificate of achievement
  5. Recognition in front of peers
  6. Spot awards
  7. Hand-written note

Q3. How do you create an open-minded environment in the workplace?

Ans.

  1. Avoid isolation and confinement
  2. Ask lots of questions
  3. Leave your comfort zone
  4. Take lessons from anyone and never stop learning
  5. Challenge limits

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What Is the True Cost of Recruiting and Onboarding Employees?

It takes 41 days on average to hire someone for a position. Any costs related to hiring a new employee and integrating new hires into a company are referred to as recruiting & onboarding costs. Depending on the role being filled and the business’s industry, the true cost of onboarding an employee or recruiting a new employee varies greatly, but it is almost always enormously costly.

Benefits, marketing, and training costs must be considered when determining the true cost of employee hiring because they increase overall employer costs. In this article, we will go through the true cost of onboarding an employee in detail and offer a way to reduce your hiring expenditures.

The True Cost of Recruiting & Onboarding Employees

According to the statistics by Forbes, the average cost of onboarding a new employee is $1,400. A new hire costs a business about six months to break even, that is, to reap the benefits and returns from the new hire. You can minimize hiring costs and maximize your resources by developing effective hiring and onboarding procedures.

Investments in efficient and clever hiring practices yield larger earnings, faster revenue growth, and reduced attrition rates. Here, we’ll look at the most common hiring expenses encountered in every business and how they collectively affect the cost of acquiring a new employee. The primary factors contributing to the overall cost of hiring and onboarding new employees are listed below:

Emotional and Mental Cost

Emotional and Mental Cost of Employees Onboarding

Finding and hiring fresh talent is challenging. 36% of HR executives claim they lack the funding to hire top personnel. Moreover, organizations are experiencing a financial strain due to increased requests for better pay, time off, flexible work hours, and more benefits. Hiring teams become mentally and physically exhausted as a result. This results in anxiety, depression, stress, and other mental and emotional side effects that affect the recruiter’s health and performance.

Recruiter’s Time, Effort, and Money

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that companies spend an average of $4,129 and 42 days to fill a vacant position. Depending on the length of the search, the type of position, and the salary range, the cost to hire personnel rises accordingly.

A human resources (HR) recruiter is required to manage the hiring procedure at a business. To oversee the full HR administrative process, you require at least one HR manager and one HR recruiter. These HR personnel will use their productive time and specialized skills to screen, contact, interview, meet, and hire the right candidate.

They could spend the same time on other HR tasks like payroll processing, engagement initiatives, onboarding, etc. Therefore, to hire a candidate, you must consider the recruiter’s salary and the time they spend screening prospects.

Advertising Expenses

Hiring an employee includes the very expensive aspect of advertising. To hire the best candidate, you’ll first need an educational, persuasive, and noticeable advertisement for your target audience. Further, reaching your audience through one platform is difficult; you need a comprehensive strategy, including social media and other networks.

Many free solutions let you post a new job opportunity on websites like ZipRecruiter and LinkedIn, but the free or trial versions only provide limited tools to aid your search. So, typically, you’ll need a paid service to maximize a job site’s benefits. The advertising costs of all the platforms you use must be included in the entire cost of recruiting.

Compensation and Benefits

Fair compensation

Ensuring your employee receives fair compensation is one of the hiring process’s more obvious costs. However, the extra benefits you provide to the employee might increase the total cost.

Per a survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in March 2023, employers spent $29.70 on wages and salaries and $13.36 on employee benefits. Benefits like health insurance, retirement plans, and employee growth programs impact your budget.

Hiring a new employee with perks might cost approximately 40% of the individual’s base salary. Moreover, employers still have an additional cost for their workers: tax. 

Background Checks and Pre-Screening

After shortlisting a small pool of candidates, you evaluate each applicant’s suitability before conducting an interview. A phone screening or a video pre-screening are also good options. Pre-screening is a crucial step to exclude applicants who would not be a good fit for the position. If your list of potential applicants has been reduced to 16, you should spend 15 minutes on a phone screening call for each candidate.

The cost of background checks or pre-screening varies from one organization to another. It’s recommended to discover more about your short list of suitable prospects through background checks before making an offer. You may check all information, including criminal databases, verification of their education, and prior employers.

Cost of Bad Hiring

Poor hiring will cost 1 to 5 times as much to replace the position in question, including the lost wages, benefits, and the costs of hiring and training new employees. The management, administrative, and legal expenses of a bad hire should also be considered. It also takes a hit on the direct and indirect costs of lost or damaged funds, supplies, equipment, the working environment, client goodwill, and the employer’s reputation.

Insufficient skill, a lack of expertise, and a lack of time are the key reasons hiring decisions go wrong. Thus, you can save time, money, and effort by outsourcing your HR processes, including hiring, screening, background checks, payroll, and other administrative tasks. However, at some point in their career, every CEO will make a poor hire; these costs are industry-normal.

Cost of Competition

The cost of “lost candidates” is a heavy financial burden to the business. Most small businesses lack the necessary flexibility in the onboarding process, such as providing the job offer quickly or documenting all the official employment details. They, therefore, have to work harder to find people, and if they don’t offer the position quickly enough, the candidates are hired by a different business.

Due to outside competition, the business suffers financial consequences from losing a strong candidate for the position midway through the interview process. HR professionals and recruiters, particularly in small businesses, must be empowered to act quickly on the recruiting and onboarding process.

Cost of Onboarding and Training

Cost of Onboarding and Training

An employee must go through onboarding and training following the recruitment process. It could take almost a couple of weeks, which reduces the effectiveness of the job and productivity. The team manager must spend considerable time with the new hires daily to help them understand their tasks and adapt to the group. It takes away valuable hours from the manager’s schedule. 

Onboarding a new employee also increases the accounting cost by filling out forms, collecting documents, and creating payslips. Some other expenses comprise:

  • The price of IT hardware (laptops, phones, and software licenses)
  • The price of training
  • Cost of employee support (time required for assistance from other team members)
  • Decline in productivity

A new hire needs 3 to 8 months to reach maximum productivity levels. During this period, businesses often lose money as new employees cost more than they produce for the company.

Summing Up

Determining the exact true cost of hiring an employee is difficult as the cost varies with companies and locations. Fortunately, you can reduce inefficiencies and raise onboarding efficiency by knowing all the costs involved. Your company’s success depends on how you bring in and keep top people in today’s competitive labor market. The time and money involved in finding, screening, shortlisting, interviewing, and onboarding employees represent the true cost of recruiting. Using cost-effective recruitment tactics is important to help your company save time and money.

Engagedly can assist you in streamlining your hiring procedure and saving money. It is a perfect tool for people and strategy alignment. Using Engagedly, businesses may develop robust teams that will lead to a successful corporation. To explore more, click on the link below!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is the average cost of onboarding a new employee?

Ans. As per a study, the average cost per hire is $4,700, but it differs among organizations. The cost includes the equipment you need for the new employee’s integration into your organization and the time your HR department spends on the process.

Q2. How to calculate the cost of hiring a new employee?

Ans. The cost of new hires can be determined by adding the money spent on marketing, interviews, and training in an online calculator. However, the soft cost, which includes time spent on the hiring process, the impact on morale, and the loss of production, cannot be calculated.

Q3. How to avoid bad hiring?

Ans. Bad hires can be avoided if you use appropriate tools and hiring strategies in your hiring process. The first step in reducing the danger of bad hires is to determine the cost of a bad hire. By doing this, you may improve your business’s productivity and recruitment.

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The Effects of Remote Work on Fair Labor Laws

Worldwide demand for remote employment has increased since the COVID outbreak. In a survey, 74% of respondents said working from home improved their mental health. Additionally, 84% of respondents indicated they would be happy working remotely, with many willing to forgo a wage increase if necessary.

However, managing remote work creates issues for businesses, particularly when complying with labor laws. Many companies are adjusting to the changes and adaptations to employment legislation brought about by the significant shift toward remote labor. However, battling the effects of remote work on labor laws will take time and expertise.

Thus, to keep your company on solid legal ground and continue giving your employees a pleasant workplace, it is crucial to be aware of and comply with fair labor standards.

The Indian Labor Law on Work Environment

The employer’s duty to provide for your employees’ security is outlined in labor laws, often known as employment law. According to a Forbes report, by 2023, 12.7% of full-time workers will perform their duties from home, while 28.2% will use a hybrid work structure. The laws serve as a framework to protect employees, whether they work remotely, in an actual office setting, or as contract employees.

A few of these laws’ goals are:

  • Equality in terms of opportunities and remuneration
  • Diversity in the workplace
  • Safety & welfare of employees
  • Physical and mental health

For workers, the Ministry of Labor & Employment maintains the same employment standards as office workers. The laws include minimum wage laws, compensation benefits for working hours and overtime, company expenditures, privacy, anti-discrimination, and equal pay, leave, and labor law notifications.

  • The Ministry of Labor & Employment provides worker protection from unfair employment practices.
  • According to Ministry of Labor & Employment regulations, employees must be paid overtime and considered on the clock to be eligible for overtime pay.
  • Regarding the Ministry of Labor & Employment, employees are classified as exempt or nonexempt.
  • Ministry of Labor & Employment also guarantees minimum wages to workers of organized & unorganized sectors.
  • Employees in the organized, unorganized, and self-employed sectors are eligible for the pension plan (EPFO).
Also Read: Gender Equality Challenges in Leadership and How to Overcome Them

Effects of Remote Work on Fair Labor Laws

Effects of Remote Work on Fair Labor Laws

Defining the fundamentals of remote work in a contract between the employer and employee is an important duty of employers. Some effects of remote work are as follows:

Inadequate Supervision

Managers cannot viably check their employees’ daily work status or professional development in a remote working environment. Furthermore, since team contact would be less regular, managers can’t attend to and track an employee’s issues or grievances efficiently.

To tackle this, supervisors must frequently speak with their remote workers on the phone or via video conferencing. They can track employees’ development daily and manage it in real-time.

Miscalculated Overtime

Remote workers may sometimes not be fairly compensated for overtime work, as tracking overtime hours becomes difficult when the employee is out of sight. It violates the fair labor regulations that prevent people from working too much without a fair wage.

Pay Inequity

Remote work is not accessible to everyone due to restricted technological advancements. So, some workers may still have to work in the office. This results in pay discrepancies as remote workers save money on traveling, renting, and food, whereas in-office workers have to spend their income on travel, food, etc. 

Thus, it is necessary to provide equitable wages to workers regardless of age, gender, religion, or location. In this regard, HR managers need to work towards pay equity to avoid future employee disputes.

Errors in Tracking Productivity

When everyone on your team works in the same office, monitoring their productivity is easy. You can just get up and approach any team member to acquire updates on jobs and projects. The challenge of leading a remote team, however, is completely different.

How can you monitor the output of your remote team members without interfering with their privacy or micromanaging them? How can you stop remote workers from overworking themselves and getting burned out?

 These are some of the questions you must respond to to track your remote staff’s productivity correctly. Managers must implement flexible, updated systems to monitor employees’ productivity. This may involve establishing metrics for how much work should be finished daily.

Moreover, the KPIs (key performance indicators) you use for assessing in-office workers’ productivity should likewise be applied to remote workers. This ensures clear and uniform expectations from both in-office and remote workers regardless of how and where your team works.

Compliance with Labor Laws

Labor laws outline essential worker-related rules regarding employee perks, dismissal, minimum wages, overtime, etc. To avoid legal problems, employers must ensure their remote work rules and practices comply with applicable labor laws. Non-compliance can force a company to pay fines and create a bad reputation for the company among job applicants and employees.

Effect on Employee Well-Being

Remote workers face unique challenges in maintaining work-life balance and ensuring well-being. Employers can establish policies to address these difficulties, including rest breaks, a limit on the number of hours employees can work, and short paths for reporting grievances or problems with remote work.

Moreover, regular check-ins and contact could keep remote workers from feeling lonely and foster a productive work atmosphere.

Benefits of Remote Working

Benefits of Remote Work

The ability to work remotely has many special advantages, like the following:

Cost Efficiency for Employers

One of the biggest benefits of remote work for business managers is its affordability. Businesses can save significant money by allowing employees to work from home because renting or maintaining office space, furniture, or electronics is unnecessary. 

Moreover, remote work does not require the company to use laptops, air conditioners, fans, lights, and printers all day. It helps save money on electricity bills and benefits the environment.

Reduces Employees’ Expenses and Time

The commuting time can be reduced or eliminated with remote work, saving employees money on petrol and auto maintenance. Additionally, you can save money on meals away from home, dry cleaning, and work attire. 

Moreover, remote work saves considerable time it takes to get ready to reach the office. Since you no longer have to spend time traveling to and from work, you may find it easier to balance work and life.

Also Read: Social Flow of Work: Enhance Digital Real-Time Collaboration with Engagedly

Enhances Productivity

Work from home increases productivity since there are fewer distractions, less office politics, and more options for personalizing their workspace. You must still participate in meetings, conferences, and company-wide events virtually. However, you can resume working immediately instead of wasting time mingling or going out with colleagues for tea.

Prioritizes Employees’ Health

Putting your health first while working remotely is an additional perk. For many reasons, working from home can lower your stress levels. You no longer have to worry about being late or hurrying to work on time. Eliminating the daily travel to and from the office can save time, lower stress levels, and improve employee well-being.

You can also follow a healthy eating schedule at home, which is impossible with office treats and peer pressure. This flexibility can assist you in prioritizing your health so you can keep up your productive work and maintain a healthy balance between work and life.

Summing Up 

Policies governing remote work could have significant effects of remote work on labor laws. Compliance with these policies may seem difficult due to the recent rapid rise in work-from-home arrangements. While there are numerous benefits to working remotely, there are also legal considerations that both companies and employees must make. By being informed of and abiding by employment regulations, remote workers can ensure their rights are preserved, and employers can continue to operate in obedience to applicable laws. 

Engagedly provides thorough assistance with the execution of new legal laws around remote work. Numerous tools are available on the Engagedly platform to help you carry out your workforce automation strategy. We also help you simplify your HR tasks! Visit our website today! 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What are the Ministry of Labor & Employment’s four principal elements?

Ans. The Ministry of Labor & Employment’s four primary elements are as follows:

  • Right to minimum wages for everyone (2019)
  • Social Security for everyone (2020)
  • Right of security to workers in all situations (2020)
  • Industrial Relations Code (2020)

Q2. What advantages do remote jobs offer?

Ans. Employees who work remotely have more flexibility regarding where and when they work. They can balance work and personal obligations better. Employees are frequently more productive when working remotely since there are fewer distractions than in traditional offices.

Q3. What is remote work monitoring?

Ans. For the company’s betterment, employers can remotely monitor the activity and productivity of remote employees. It can assist managers in quickly gaining insight into the accomplishments and deliverables of teams.

 

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12 Best Tools for Hybrid Businesses in 2024

You’ve spent the last few years running a hybrid business, but you can’t seem to be as productive as you want. It may help to look into some tools for hybrid businesses, like a virtual phone system.

Read on to learn about some essential tools that hybrid teams need to use. Then, you can choose the programs that work for your business.

Google Drive

GDrive-LogoGoogle Drive is an excellent tool for hybrid businesses to store and share files. You can upload documents to the cloud and grant access to specific employees or anyone with the link. Plus, you can create files in Google Drive with Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

The tool is free to use, and it also comes with a Google Workspace subscription. It’s available in a browser on your computer. However, you can also download the mobile apps for Drive and related products to access files on the go.

If you deal with a lot of documents, Google Drive is great because it works on all devices. You won’t have to pay for separate software or worry about whether employees have a compatible operating system.

Gmail

Gmail-logoAlong with Google Drive, Gmail is a part of Google Workspace, but you can also use it separately. This email client comes with a lot of great features, such as auto-suggestions to help you write emails more quickly to communicate with your team.

It will also remind you to respond to emails or follow up after a few days. You can even connect to Google Calendar and other services. Like Google Drive, there’s a mobile app for Gmail, or you can use your phone’s native email client.

Also Read: How to Manage Grapevine Communication in an Organization

Google Voice

Google VoiceIf you want to give your employees work phone numbers, consider using Google Voice. You can also use the tool to get a number for a virtual phone system. The program gives you a number for free that you can use on your device when working from home.

It’s a great choice if you need to give out phone numbers to clients. Have your employees sign up for a Google Voice number. Then, they can use that number to call clients, and you can use it for team communication.

You won’t have to pay for a smartphone for everyone. However, you can still separate your personal and work messages.

Slack

Slack-logo1Another one of the best tools for a hybrid business is Slack. It’s a great place to post company announcements or other quick messages. What’s more, there’s a free tier, which is nice if you have a small budget.

You can set up channels for all of your employees to access. However, you can also set up private channels that are only available to certain people, like managers.

The tool even lets you create private messages or small group threads. Then, you can easily communicate with individuals on your team. Slack is perfect if you have a quick question or something and don’t want to send an email and wait for a response.

Trello

Trello-logoMany hybrid teams collaborate on some projects, and that can be difficult if you’re not all in the same office. Fortunately, Trello and other project management tools solve that problem. You can create boards for different departments or projects.

Under each board, add lists and cards for projects or individual steps. Add employees to the boards for their team or department. Then, you can tag employees in comments on specific cards, and you can assign cards to people.

You’ll even be able to link to Google Drive files or other attachments. That way, people will have everything they need to get to work.

Also Read: 7 HR Tasks That Could (And Should) Have Been Automated Yesterday

Loom

Loom-logoSome tasks can be difficult to explain in a text-based document. If you need to provide a tutorial on your company’s software, for example, you can record a video in Loom. Then, you can store that recording and send it to anyone who needs it.

You won’t have to offer live training every time you hire someone new. That can save you a lot of time. Plus, your employees can refer back to the video whenever they have questions, and they can email you if they’re still stuck.

Loom is easy to use, and there’s a free version with basic features. However, you can pay if you find yourself using the tool often.

Toggl

Toggl-logoToggl is a business tool that you can use to track employee work hours. Employees and contractors can use it to monitor how much they’re working. Then, you can use their hours to determine how much to pay everyone.

The tool also lets you plan team projects and manage your hiring process. That makes it an excellent tool to replace other tools.

You can use it for free with a small team. Otherwise, you’ll need to pay, but the tiers are relatively affordable for all of the amazing features.

Calendly

Calendly-logoWhen you have a hybrid team, it can be hard to contact people to schedule individual meetings. Luckily, Calendly lets you add your availability to a schedule. You can send your special link to people, and they can choose a time slot that works for them.

Then, the program will confirm the appointment for both parties. It will even connect to video meeting platforms, such as Zoom. You won’t have to send a Zoom link to each person who books a meeting with you.

This can help you save a lot of time. It also eliminates the back-and-forth in emails asking when the other person is available to meet.

Also Read: Why Frequently Recognizing Employee Contributions Is Essential

Doodle

Doodle-logoWhen it comes to scheduling group meetings, consider using Doodle. The tool allows you to create polls and send the link to everyone in your department. Then, everyone can select the days and times that work for them.

Use that data to choose a meeting time that works for as many people as possible. The tool is free, and you can create as many polls as you want.

If you want to minimize the number of business tools, you can use them for individual meetings. It also integrates with video conferencing software to help you hold the meeting.

Zoom

Zoom-logoIf you need to meet with remote employees and in-office workers, use a tool like Zoom. You can host hundreds of meeting participants depending on the tier you select. Everyone can log in on their computer.

You can share your screen if you need to, or you can talk as normal. Users can mute themselves when they aren’t speaking, and they can turn their cameras off as well.

There’s also a chat feature if people have questions. You can record your meetings and send them to people after the fact. Finally, you can even offer closed captioning to make the events more accessible.

Google Meet

Google Meet logoGoogle Meet is a good alternative to Zoom, especially if you use other Google products. You and your team can log into the meeting using your respective Google accounts. Unlike Zoom, you don’t need to download any software to your computer.

However, you can download the Google Meet app to your phone. This makes it easy to take video calls from anywhere.

The tool is free to use, but you can upgrade for more features, such as longer group calls. Premium members can also record Google Meet calls.

Canva

Canva-logoAnother one of the best tools for hybrid businesses is Canva. Like Google Drive, it works in your browser and as a mobile app. However, Canva lets you create more visually appealing documents.

That makes it the perfect tool for graphic design teams and marketing teams. You can use Canva for free or pay for extra features. Either way, you can share your projects with others in your department to collaborate on your designs or get approval from management.

However, you can also utilize canva alternatives to create a variety of designs with ease. Once a design is approved, you can download it and publish it as needed. Canva even connects directly to apps like Instagram, facilitating easy sharing of social posts.

Also Read: What Is an Employee Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Why Does It Matter?

Which Business Tools Will You Use?

From a virtual phone system to collaboration tools, there are so many options. If you have a hybrid business, you should consider tools for you and your team to use.

Think about the type of work you do and how you like to communicate with your employees or contractors. Don’t forget to review your budget because some tools are free, while others cost money. Then, you can look into the best apps and programs that meet your needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What are software for SaaS companies?

Ans. Software commonly used by SaaS companies includes:

  • CRM software for customer management.
  • Subscription management software for billing and payments.
  • Analytics and business intelligence tools for data analysis.
  • Collaboration and project management software.
  • Help desk and customer support software.
  • Marketing automation software.
  • Customer onboarding and engagement tools.
  • Data security and compliance software.
  • Infrastructure and hosting services.
  • Integration and API management tools.

These tools help SaaS companies run their operations efficiently and deliver their software services to customers.

Q2. What are SaaS collaboration tools?

Ans. SaaS collaboration tools are cloud-based applications that facilitate team communication and project management. They include project management software and team communication tool.

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