The People Strategy Leaders Podcast

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

Imagine having to cook every meal from scratch, day in and day out. It would take up a significant amount of your time and energy, leaving you little room to focus on other important tasks. But with a personal chef, you could enjoy delicious, healthy meals without having to spend hours in the kitchen. It could be expensive, but surely worthwhile, keeping your work-life balance intact. Here we’re discussing outsourcing and automation, and this applies to your work-life as well.

As an HR professional, it is possible to eliminate the tasks that you dislike and focus on more productive tasks.

As an HR professional, there’s a lot on the table to complete by the ‘end of the day’, right? You may wish to eliminate this term, but you can neither complete your tasks or nor remove this word from your work life. Unfortunately, as an HR professional, you do a lot of work like generating reports, filling out attendance forms, maintaining databases, and many other not-so-fun tasks. By the end of it, you are not even sure if the report you generated has been touched.

This reinventing era demands HR professionals to deliver smart work. And for that, it is important to learn the art of prioritization, to understand what work serves little value and which tasks can be eliminated or automated to deliver value to the table.

In this blog, we will discover some HR tasks that could have been automated yesterday, so, the sooner the better. There are so many tasks that you may think you can do manually because you do them the best, but who knows, one day ChatGPT will be in our lives and have the power to reduce our potential to zero.

So, before we get into the important HR tasks that can be automated right now, what exactly is human resource automation?

Also Read: 9 Progressive HR Approaches From HR Professionals

What is HR automation?

The use of technology to streamline and optimise various HR functions such as recruiting, onboarding, training, payroll, and performance management is referred to as HR automation. It entails the use of software, tools, and platforms to automate routine and repetitive HR tasks, thereby reducing HR professionals’ workload and time spent.

This allows them to focus on more strategic and value-added activities that can contribute to the organization’s growth and success.

HR automation can help organisations save money, increase efficiency, and improve employee satisfaction.

The Benefits of HR Automation

HR automation has completely revolutionized the operational landscape for businesses, bringing about simplification and enhanced efficacy in HR processes. The adoption of HR automation software offers a multitude of advantages that play a pivotal role in bolstering an organization’s triumph.

HR automation enhances productivity by reducing processing time and facilitating seamless data sharing. Essential tasks like employee onboarding, performance management, talent management, and time and attendance tracking can be automated, resulting in swift processing and enabling HR personnel to dedicate their time to more intricate responsibilities.
Furthermore, HR automation fosters greater employee engagement, which contributes to lower turnover rates. By automating HR processes, employees gain control over their personal information, benefits, and time off requests. This empowerment fosters higher job satisfaction and cultivates a workforce that is more actively involved.
Moreover, organizations benefit financially from HR automation by reducing costs associated with paper-based processing. This encompasses expenses related to printing, storage, and retrieval of physical documents. Additionally, it mitigates compliance risks and policy violations, ensuring adherence to pertinent laws and regulations.
Automation also streamlines the hiring process, empowering HR personnel to swiftly and cost-effectively identify and select the most suitable candidates. It minimizes data entry errors and the misplacement or loss of documents, further enhancing the efficiency of the hiring process.
Finally, HR automation generates insightful reports that facilitate informed decision-making for the organization. These reports offer valuable data on various HR metrics such as employee performance, turnover rates, and training needs. Armed with this information, stakeholders can make data-driven decisions and develop a more effective HR strategy.

Also Read: Benefits Of Having HR Management Software In Organization

7 HR Tasks That Can Be Automated in a Blink of an Eye!

Recruiting:

Recruiting plays a vital role in HR, yet it can be a time-consuming task to review resumes and conduct interviews. Automated recruiting tools, such as applicant tracking systems (ATS), can effectively streamline the process. ATS software scans resumes for relevant keywords and qualifications, matches them with job descriptions, and ranks candidates based on their suitability. This enables HR professionals to save time and swiftly identify the most qualified candidates.

Onboarding:

Onboarding entails introducing new hires to their roles and the company culture. However, it often involves lengthy procedures like paperwork, orientation sessions, and training. Automating certain tasks can expedite the process. For instance, software can generate and send welcome emails to new hires, digitally collect their information, and assign training modules. This empowers HR professionals to efficiently bring new employees up to speed.

Benefits administration:

Managing employee benefits can be intricate and time-consuming. Automated solutions alleviate this burden by helping HR professionals track enrollment, oversee benefits administration, and generate reports. This grants them more time to concentrate on other essential HR functions, such as talent management and employee engagement.

Performance management:

Performance management encompasses setting goals, monitoring progress, and providing feedback. It can be a laborious process, but automation can enhance efficiency. For instance, software can track employee goals and progress, issue reminders for upcoming deadlines, and provide feedback based on predetermined criteria. This enables HR professionals to identify areas where employees excel or require improvement and take appropriate actions.

Time and attendance tracking:

Manual time and attendance tracking is susceptible to errors and consumes significant time. Automated solutions simplify this process by accurately tracking employee hours, generating reports, and calculating pay. This ensures that HR professionals can precisely and promptly compensate employees.

Payroll processing:

Payroll processing entails calculating employee wages, taxes, and benefit deductions. It can be complex and time-consuming, but automation simplifies certain tasks. Software can track employee hours, calculate pay, and generate reports for tax and compliance purposes. This guarantees that HR professionals accurately and punctually compensate employees while mitigating the risk of errors or compliance breaches.

Offboarding:

Offboarding involves the smooth separation of employees from the company, including revoking system access and retrieving company property. Although sensitive, automating specific tasks helps ensure a seamless transition. Software can automatically deactivate employee accounts, schedule exit interviews, and generate compliance reports. This empowers HR professionals to treat departing employees fairly and in accordance with company policies and regulations.

Also Read: Your Comprehensive Guide to 360 Degree Feedback in the Modern Workplace

Engagedly is your Trusted HR Automation Partner, Here’s Why?

Engagedly stands as an all-encompassing HR automation platform (talent management platform) meticulously crafted to streamline HR processes and enhance employee engagement. Here are several reasons why Engagedly is an esteemed HR automation partner:

Comprehensive HR Solutions:

Engagedly offers a comprehensive range of HR solutions, including talent management, goal setting, employee feedback, 360-degree reviews, pulse surveys, learning management, and more. This empowers organizations to oversee all facets of their HR operations seamlessly from a unified platform.

User-Friendly Interface:

Engagedly boasts a user-friendly interface that ensures effortless navigation and usability. The platform prioritizes user experience, offering intuitive features and tools that require minimal to no training.

Customizability:

Engagedly excels in adaptability, effortlessly tailoring itself to suit the distinctive needs of any organization. It presents an array of customization options, allowing for personalized templates, workflows, and branding.

Continuous Feedback:

Engagedly champions continuous feedback capabilities, allowing employees to receive real-time feedback instead of relying solely on annual performance reviews. This enables organizations to swiftly identify and address issues while fostering a culture where employees feel valued and engaged.

Analytics and Reporting:

Engagedly empowers organizations with comprehensive analytics and reporting functionalities, facilitating data-driven decision-making. The platform offers an extensive array of reports and dashboards that provide invaluable insights into employee performance, engagement, and development.

Integrations:

Engagedly seamlessly integrates with an extensive range of third-party tools and platforms, including HRIS, ATS, and payroll systems. This ensures effortless integration with an organization’s existing HR technology stack.

Outstanding Support:

Engagedly prides itself on offering exceptional customer support, providing dedicated account managers who assist organizations in maximizing the platform’s potential. Moreover, Engagedly offers comprehensive online resources, including video tutorials and a knowledge base, to aid users in navigating the platform smoothly.

Also Read: Performance Management Tools And Techniques Every HR Leader Needs

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What are some benefits of automating HR tasks?

Ans. HR tasks can be automated to save time, cut down on errors, and boost productivity. HR professionals may be able to concentrate on more strategic tasks like talent management and employee engagement as a result.

Automating HR tasks can also lower the risk of legal action or penalties and help ensure compliance with regulations.

Q2. Which HR tasks are best suited for automation?

Ans. The following HR processes are good candidates for automation: hiring, onboarding, benefits administration, performance management, time and attendance tracking, payroll processing, and offboarding. Software and other automation tools can be used to streamline these tasks, which are frequently monotonous and time-consuming.

Q3. Will automating HR tasks replace human workers?

Ans. No, automating HR duties won’t replace employees. Instead, its purpose is to support HR professionals in simplifying their processes and dedicating more time to strategic tasks. Automation assists HR professionals by reducing the time and effort spent on repetitive tasks, allowing them to concentrate on responsibilities that demand human judgement and decision-making. By streamlining routine tasks, automation enables HR professionals to focus on more meaningful and impactful work.

Q4. What should organizations consider before automating HR tasks?

Ans. Organizations should consider their budget, the complexity of their HR processes, and the potential impact on employees before automating HR tasks. The automation process requires transparency and clear communication. Furthermore, organisations should ensure that the software or automation tools used are dependable, secure, and regulatory compliant. Consideration of these factors will assist organisations in making informed decisions about automating HR tasks while prioritising employee well-being.

6 Effective Coaching Strategies to Improve Team Performance

Companies consistently search for effective coaching strategies to enhance employee performance. This pursuit aligns to improve overall team performance, positively impacting sales, marketing, customer service, and product development. The adoption of coaching strategies proves to be not only performance-driven but also cost-effective.

As a manager, you’ll spend an average of $5,258 when hiring a new team member. However, when it comes to spending resources to coach and train your current employees, the cost goes down to $1,280 per employee.

If you’re giving your team members exciting and challenging projects, coaching them, promoting a work-life balance, and paying them well while making them feel valued and appreciated, then they have enough reason to stick around for the long haul.

However, competition for talent means that you’ll need to be more effective with your coaching strategies to keep them around and still have them perform at their best.

Here are the 6 Effective Coaching Strategies:

As a coach, you’ll work with team members at different levels. When having conversations about their performance, you’ll need to be flexible in your approach, and listen with empathy.

Coaching allows employees to have access to professional development resources such as workshops, seminars, and webinars that focus on coaching them to perform better in the workplace.

You’ll also need to provide relevant feedback that challenges your team members to take initiative to grow and do better. But that’s not all you’ll need to do.

Also Read: Develop New Leadership Roles With Coaching and Mentoring

Here are six more coaching strategies that you need to use to improve your team/s performance.

Continuously improve your coaching skills

As a discipline, an effective coaching strategy is not static because a coach needs to respond to different needs that an employee has and help them to overcome challenges that get in the way of their performance.

If you rely on peer-to-peer coaching or have team leaders coach their team members, you need to continually update their skills so they can learn about new coaching models and techniques and when to apply them to improve their effectiveness.

A good place to start is expanding the company’s coaching policies and procedures to accommodate continuous improvement of the existing coaches, a core part of the company’s development program.

Once you’ve done that, provide your internal coaches with training materials and access to more experienced coaches to help them expand their skills to help them become better coaches for the team.

Identify areas where performance needs improvement

It’s difficult to coach an employee in several areas at the same time because it will lead to overwhelm and poor coaching outcomes. So before you embark on coaching, have a one-on-one meeting with each team member to identify areas that need improvement.

This will help you know where to start, keep you focused on a specific area during coaching, and allow you to monitor progress and evaluate results over time.

For example, when identifying areas that need improvement, you might come to the conclusion that an employee needs to acquire some skills that will help them improve their performance.

In addition to identifying areas that need improvement, you also need to assess the opportunity cost of coaching an employee in one area over another.

Assume you’re running a sales team and you need to train a couple of team members on how to run a successful product demo and how to negotiate. Given that you’ve already identified the areas that need improvement, you now need to assess and prioritize these areas based on what the business needs.

Identify which of the two skills has a bigger impact on your current business objectives so that you focus on high-impact coaching that immediately translates to improved business performance and better results.

Identifying and assessing coaching opportunities isn’t a one-time thing. Trust and constant communication are key ingredients because that’s how employees will feel free to share what they’re struggling with and what they need help with to improve their performance.

Also Read: How To Improve Your Team’s Performance: Top 6 Tips

Collaborate with your team members

Once you identify and assess the areas that need improvement, talk to your team members and explore different approaches you intend to use to coach them.

Your team members’ input helps you get their buy-in, because they have an opportunity to suggest the coaching method that works best for them. It also opens you up to new coaching methods that work for them which might not be what you had in mind before talking to them.

For example, some might suggest that they want a peer to coach them while others prefer using online learning resources such as courses and workshops.

Whichever approach you both agree to use during coaching, you can be sure that each team member will embrace it and it will be easier for them to acquire the skills they need to perform better.

Combine different coaching methods

You can coach your employees by providing insights and guidance where necessary and supporting them in what they are doing. However, your approach towards coaching doesn’t need to rely on one approach, whether you’re the only one providing support and guidance or allowing team members to coach one another.

Initially, you can coach the team, rely on peer-to-peer coaching, or work with external coaches to improve team performance. Each of these approaches has its strengths, and you might want to bring in other approaches to fill in the gaps that other methods have.

Consider peer-to-peer coaching for instance. It comes across as an efficient coaching method and saves on expenses because you use what is readily available, i.e., your team members. Team members also benefit from providing feedback to each other and learning from each other in the process to improve their skills.

However, if you’re looking to improve performance in a specific area and you (or your team members) lack the skills and competence to provide relevant coaching, consider working with an external coach to complement the peer-to-peer coaching that you’re already using.

In addition to relying on their expertise, having an external coach also expands your team’s worldview, as they’re working with an “outsider” who will provide new ways of thinking about their challenges.

Collect feedback to customize your coaching

No matter the approach you use to coach the team, you need feedback to know how well it is working, even identify areas where you need to adjust your approach, or use an entirely new approach altogether.

After all, you’re coaching to get results so the feedback you need to collect should help you improve your coaching.

When collecting feedback, ask employees to share with you areas where they think the coaching approach is working, and where it’s not working, based on the results you intend to achieve. Also, ask them for suggestions on the approaches they would like you to use to improve your coaching.

When collecting feedback during a one-on-one meeting, use open-ended questions and take the time to listen to what they say so you can uncover subtle issues that tend to get lost when providing feedback.

If you’re using a survey tool to collect feedback, use a word cloud tool to help you identify prominent words that point you to underlying themes from the feedback you collect.

Establish performance set points

Since coaching is about improving performance, it goes hand in hand with using set points that help you sustain the level of performance your team achieves during coaching. It’s easy for team members to fall back to old habits once they’re done with coaching, so set points help them stay accountable and sustain the level of performance they attained during coaching.

Record these set points using collaborative goal-tracking apps, which will help everyone stay accountable and track progress towards their performance goals. Your performance set points could be based on industry benchmarks based on data from different industry players. You can also use internal benchmarks based on the standards you want to live up to that will stand out from your competitors.

For example, when running distributed marketing campaigns, you want to make sure that your copywriters use the right tone and style when writing script copy for different types of content so you stay on brand no matter where your marketing messages show up.

If you’ve already coached them on how to create content that aligns with your brand’s tone and style, an ideal performance standard would be making sure that your marketing messages don’t go through more than two rounds of edits for tone and style.

Use these standards to make sure that your team’s performance is consistent and delivers the business results you’re looking for.

Also Read: Does Your Organization Need Coaching or Mentoring?

Conclusion

Coaching is a continuous activity. Not only do you need to integrate it into your company culture, but you need to practice it continuously.

To establish this continuity, evaluate employee performance regularly based on the results you intend to achieve. See how effective your coaching is and what you need to do to improve. If a coaching strategy works, double down on it. If it doesn’t work, stop allocating more resources to it.

Keep track of any improvements your employees make based on different coaching methods you’re using. Document the data to help you come up with evidence-based coaching programs that push employees to do their best and grow in their roles.

Hope our pointers on Effective Coaching Strategies helped you formulate something better for your organization. Let us know in the comments section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is coaching?

Ans. Coaching is a collaborative and goal-oriented process that involves helping individuals or groups to unlock their potential, overcome challenges, and achieve their desired outcomes. It typically involves a skilled coach working with a coachee or coachees to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for growth, and then developing a plan of action to facilitate progress towards specific goals. Coaching can take many forms, from executive coaching in the workplace to life coaching in personal development, and may involve a variety of techniques such as active listening, questioning, feedback, and accountability. Ultimately, coaching is about empowering individuals to realize their full potential and achieve their desired outcomes through personalized guidance and support.

Q2. What is an effective coaching strategy?

Ans. An effective coaching strategy involves setting clear goals, establishing a trusting relationship with the coachee, using active listening and questioning techniques to promote self-discovery, and providing constructive feedback and support to encourage growth and development. It also requires adaptability and flexibility to tailor the coaching approach to the specific needs and preferences of the coachee, and a commitment to ongoing learning and improvement as a coach.

Q3. Why do we need an effective coaching strategy?

Ans. We need an effective coaching strategy because it can help individuals and organizations achieve their goals by unlocking their full potential, improving performance, and increasing motivation and engagement. A well-designed coaching strategy can provide personalized guidance and support, help individuals identify and overcome obstacles, and foster a culture of continuous learning and development. It can also promote self-awareness, build confidence, and enhance communication and interpersonal skills, leading to improved relationships and teamwork. Ultimately, an effective coaching strategy can help individuals and organizations reach their full potential and achieve success.

Task Management: The Not-so-Secret Weapon to Maintain Efficiency Without Burnout

A survey of almost 2000 corporate workers discovered that the average employee is only productive for about 3 hours daily. You can increase productivity by deploying employee engagement strategies. But you should also focus on making the most of the average worker’s productive hours. Schedule complex tasks for when they’re most productive. A task management system is the best approach to achieving this. It helps get the best out of you and your employees during high-productivity hours.

Here, we explore task management and how it boosts efficiency and reduces burnout.

What is a Task Management System?

Task management primarily involves getting tasks done efficiently. The process entails defining, prioritizing, assigning, and monitoring tasks. Executives and team leaders often do it to achieve the best possible outcomes without expending more than the necessary resources.

Task management is where you schedule activities and manage them. It often involves deadline and scale-of-importance considerations which give higher prioritization to the most important tasks and those with closer deadlines.

Who’s it for?

Task management system is for you, your employees, managers, and individuals with a broad list of workplace responsibilities. Many organizations don’t have designated task manager positions. Instead, they make it part of the team leads’ or project managers’ responsibilities.

Also read: 4 Leadership Skills to Improve in a Hybrid Work Environment

Why do you need to manage tasks?

Task management gives you a roadmap and often makes it easier to identify what you need to do.

Ensures you complete all high-priority tasks

A key element of task management is prioritization. It involves assigning importance to tasks based on specific parameters. High priority tasks often have a tremendous impact on the overall results you intend to achieve. That’s why you must prioritize them.

But priorities aren’t set in stone and may change with situations. Task management ensures you’re doing the right thing at the right time.

The best part is, task management makes it easier to manage multiple high priority tasks simultaneously. For instance, a business manager can set up a new marketing campaign for your business and manage payroll tasks with Paylocity at the same time.

Increases productivity

Again, task management system helps you make the most of your employee’s productive hours to get the best results. Primarily, task management involves doing high priority and complex tasks in productive hours. You may then work on more mundane activities at other times.

In addition, project managers can review and constantly appraise their teams based on task completion. As such, it encourages all members to consistently deliver their productive best.

Also read: How to Build and Sustain Company Culture in a Hybrid Work Environment?

Helps you meet deadlines

Task management gives priority to important tasks, but it doesn’t disregard other assignments. All other activities are also key considerations and subjects to task management strategies. It generally ensures you complete all your tasks before indulging in less crucial activities.

Plus, it incorporates time management techniques that’ll help you maintain efficiency and work faster.

How to manage tasks?

Task management doesn’t have to be complex. It’s a term describing task planning, scheduling, and execution.

Let’s explore how you can do it.

Create a to-do list

The good old to-do list remains an effective task management method. Drafting one is a straightforward process and shouldn’t take much time, depending on the complexity of the tasks at hand.

Creating a to-do list outlines all the activities on your queue and helps you visualize their execution. Once you have the paper list, you can prioritize and assign importance to tasks based on parameters like deadline or complexity.

That said, it helps to make the to-do list as detailed as possible. Note all crucial information, including the parameters for determining tasks’ order of importance. Doing this simplifies the rest of the process.

Try a Kanban board tool

The Japanese designed Kanban boards in the early forties. It’s a digital post-it board. It’s a good idea for task management because you can visualize all the tasks comprising the project and divide them into columns.

Each column in a Kanban board represents different stages of your team’s project workflow. And underneath each column will be different cards—each one representing individual tasks.

For instance, let’s say your team is working on a content management project. You and your team will complete tasks like content research, keyword strategy, designing digital assets, and content promotion. You can separate these tasks into the appropriate columns, making your way down each column as the project runs into completion.

Get a task management tool

While a task management system may not be a complicated process, it’s sometimes lengthy, monotonous, and time-consuming. Having a task management tool helps you avoid all of that.

The best part about task management tools is they are often niche-specific and will deliver the precise functionality needed for your industry.

Also read: 10 HR Technology Trends In 2023: Expanding AI, Digitization, and Elevating Hybrid Workplaces

Why do you need a task management tool?

Task management software has the following benefits.

It lets you manage multiple workflows on a single platform: You get to organize your entire workspace on one task management tool. This reduces disparities in your processes and lets you manage all activities from a single framework.
It reduces friction in team collaboration: Most digital task management tools have functionalities that enhance collaborative efforts. Using these tools, you may delegate tasks and use tools for communication so team members can work on their assignments and deliverables without missing a beat!

Using an online scheduling system can also be a useful tool in task management, as it can help you allocate time more efficiently and avoid conflicts in scheduling

This functionality is particularly beneficial when you manage remote teams. Your team members won’t need to badger you every time for crucial information. They can access all your instructions and observations on the project board.

Assign tasks: Comprehensive task management tools have features that simplify task delegation. You should use these additions to assign responsibilities to your employees based on their capabilities. It’s anti-task management to take on all the activities alone when there are people around who you can share them with. Similarly, assigning tasks outside of an employee’s capability is bad practice. That may lead to ineffectiveness, burnout, and employee turnover.
Automate tasks: Task management tools also let you automate repetitive tasks like monthly report drafts and meeting schedules. The software takes care of mundane activities and lets you focus on more important work.
Portability: Video conferencing software like Zoom phone lets you participate in meetings and interact with team members on the go. But a task management tool does more. It lets you monitor assignments and progress on the go without necessarily interacting with the assignee.
Monitor progress: Lastly, a task manager helps you stay abreast of task statuses and situations. It’s a platform to proactively monitor the individuals working with you and the tasks you assign to them. It’s important to monitor your proximity to task completion and constantly think of ways to speed up the process without compromising the desired results. Again, task management software will make this activity easier for you. It’ll enable you to manage and monitor multiple projects simultaneously.

How to choose the right task management software?

Choosing the right task management tool that suits your needs is crucial to your success with it. That’s why you must do proper research before picking one.

Before picking a task management tool, you must answer a few questions to determine what it is for.

What types of tasks do you typically have in your workflow?
What’s your team size and how often do you have them collaborate on tasks?
How often do you need to monitor your team members? Or do you trust them to take on and complete tasks without much supervision from task managers?
Do you need special features like analytics and time trackers?
How will the task management software integrate into your existing systems?

Make a checklist of the functionalities your ideal task management tool must have based on your answers to those questions. Then, look for the tool that checks the boxes on your list.

That said, we’ll advise you to aim for simple and seamless. Fancy features and complex designs are often enticing and can sway you. But it defeats the purpose if you or your team members find it challenging to work with the tool you picked.

The whole point is to reduce task friction and complexity while increasing productivity. As such, go for software that meets this purpose and is easy for everybody to use.

Maintain efficiency with task management

Prioritizing, assigning, and managing tasks is a proven way to improve productivity. It’s the best way to ensure you and your employees fulfill responsibilities properly and on time. It also helps you get more out of your employees without increasing their workload or risking burnout.

Overall, task management is the best approach to improving employee efficiency. And the best task management strategies effectively employ digital software to their advantage.

Drafting a task management strategy that doesn’t include the right tools is like creating a plan without considering how you’ll execute it. Start your journey to effective task management by picking the best task management software for your team.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What are the benefits of a task management system?

Ans. Here are the overall benefits of task management:

Task management helps in organizing and prioritizing tasks effectively.
It provides a clear picture of the progress of tasks and helps to stay on track with deadlines.
Task management ensures that important tasks are not overlooked or forgotten.
It helps to reduce stress by breaking down large projects into smaller, manageable tasks.
Task management improves productivity by creating a structured approach to completing tasks.
It helps to optimize the use of time and resources by identifying and eliminating unnecessary tasks.
Task management improves communication and collaboration among team members by providing a centralized platform for tracking progress.
It helps to improve accountability by assigning tasks to specific individuals and tracking their progress.
Task management provides a sense of accomplishment by allowing individuals to see the progress they have made towards completing their goals.

Q2. How to manage tasks?

Ans. Organize tasks efficiently with these simple steps:

Pinpoint tasks that are urgent and important
Analyze complex tasks and break them down into simpler steps
Create reasonable deadlines for each task
Utilize digital tools or go old-school with a planner
Categorize tasks by personal, work, or other areas
Delegate duties when possible at home or at work
Stick to a routine for updating and reviewing your task list
Schedule time-blocks for different tasks throughout the day
Set boundaries to help minimize distractions
Review and adjust your workload regularly for maximum productivity

Overall, remote and hybrid work can offer many benefits for both employees and employers, including increased flexibility, productivity, and cost savings.

Author: Grace Lau – Director of Growth Content, Dialpad

Grace Lau is the Director of Growth Content at Dialpad, an AI-powered cloud communication platform for better and easier team collaboration with features like vanity numbers from Dialpad. She has over 10 years of experience in content writing and strategy. Currently, she is responsible for leading branded and editorial content strategies, partnering with SEO and Ops teams to build and nurture content. Grace has also written for other domains such as Trust.Zone and Packwire. Here is her LinkedIn.

Engagedly Introduces Powerful Updates to Learning and Development for the #FutureOfWork

Clients can drive learning in the future of work with Streamlined Automation, Tailored Learning Paths, and Access to Hundreds of Thousands of eLearning Courses

ST. LOUIS, April 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Engagedly, the leading AI-powered cloud-based software for Performance, Learning & Developemnet, and Employee Engagement solutions, is excited to announce the launch of new updates to their Learning Management solution. These new features will help organizations provide a more automated, streamlined and engaging approach to learning and development for their employees.

The updates include:
Learning Automation – enabling customers to automate courses as well as their employee’s learning paths.
Learning Path – allowing organizations to create comprehensive journeys through different courses for their employees.
Integrations with Bizlibrary, GoodHabitz, Open Sesame and Go1 – giving customers access to hundreds of thousands of engaging eLearning courses from leading providers.

These updates have been designed to accelerate time-to-competency with easier identification and delivery of content, reduction in required resources and improved accuracy in administering training across multiple users or groups. This enhanced capability empowers organizations to quickly upskill their workforce while providing individualized progression paths that are tailored specifically to each learner’s needs.

“At Engagedly, we understand the importance of providing a comprehensive learning platform that is both user friendly and effective in helping employees reach desired competencies,” says Sri Chellappa, Co-founder & CEO at Engagedly. “The introduction of these product updates will boost productivity while reducing manual effort needed for course creation, putting more focus on actual learning versus administrative tasks.”

Engagedly’s new Learning Management Product updates are designed to bring greater value to customers. The automation feature will allow for more efficient and accurate course delivery, leading to improved employee competency and mastery in their roles. The learning path feature provides organizations with the ability to tailor training paths to individual employees, while still meeting the needs of all users. Additionally, the integrations with Bizlibrary, GoodHabitz, Open Sesame and Go1 give customers access to a wealth of diverse resources so they can find the best content for their employees.

These updates provide Engagedly clients with more powerful tools than ever before for creating an effective learning environment that is tailored to each user’s specific needs – increasing effectiveness and reducing training time required to reach desired competencies.

About Engagedly

Built on best practices and decades of research, Engagedly’s AI powered People+Strategy platform helps organisations build high performance culture. With Engagedly’s Modular Platform, organizations can Execute on their strategy with goals/OKRs, performance appraisals and 360 reviews, Enable their people development with 1 on 1 feedback, LMS, Mentoring/Coaching, and Engage their people with Recognition and Rewards, Employee Survey and Social Praise.

9 Progressive HR Policies From HR Professionals

To help you identify the next best HR approach, we asked HR experts and people managers this question for their best insights. From automating repetitive functions to conducting “stay” interviews, there are several HR approaches your team should consider.

Here are 9 progressive HR approaches from experienced professionals:

Prioritize Flexible Work Policies
Automate Repetitive HR Functions
Offer Minority Groups More Support
Keep Benefits Competitive
Think About CYA Squared
Continue Leveraging Social Media
Make Data-Driven HR Decisions
Conduct “Stay” Interviews
Cross-Train Team Members

Prioritize Flexible Work Policies

Flexible work policies are both a progressive HR approach that we practice and see as a rising trend. Having run a fully remote company for the better part of a decade, we have long offered employees freedom and flexibility in terms of working hours and practices.

With the mass shift to remote work and the uncertainty and upheaval caused by the pandemic, this approach has become more needed than ever. Many professionals have experienced massive lifestyle changes, such as having to take on supplementary work or an increase in caretaking responsibilities.

It is important for HR professionals and leaders to be conscious and empathetic about these complications and compromise on scheduling needs rather than forcing employees to adhere to strict working hours solely for the sake of following traditions or asserting authority. Allowing employees to choose their working hours and environments is a best practice in supporting your staff.

– Michael Alexis, TeamBuilding

Automate Repetitive HR Functions

Technology is developing so rapidly that sometimes companies have no time to incorporate it into their work for maximum benefit. Still, more and more businesses are introducing partial or complete HR automation.

The benefits are incredibly tempting, especially if the company is growing fast. First, it saves a lot of money and reduces the HR budget. It also allows employees to solve their HR issues and get their questions answered 24/7. It is crucial when companies work with flexible working hours. Additionally, it reduces the toll on the HR department and allows them to focus on the things that matter the most instead of doing manual tasks like reviewing sick leave requests and analyzing feedback forms from scratch.

Also Read: Why do you need a Real Time Performance Management Software

HR automation allows for maximum accuracy, efficiency, and productivity and becomes a great assistant in day-to-day HR operations.

– Ewelina Melon, Tidio

Offer Minority Groups More Support

One progressive HR approach that we are seeing as a rising trend is providing more support for minorities within the organization. As we have seen in the news and through our lives, minorities face numerous challenges that often go overlooked.

As HR, it is our responsibility to help support these individuals with everything they need to perform their job successfully and feel comfortable in their roles within the company. This is why adding additional support to individuals of color or ethnic differences is so important when growing an organization and promoting diversity and inclusion.

– Jeremy Gardner, MadeMan

Keep Benefits Competitive

Organizations are struggling to fill up vacant positions now! The power of negotiation has shifted to the hands of the employees. Before choosing an organization, they evaluate the culture and work environment to find the correct fit.

Previously, interviews were very one-sided. Companies grilled candidates to decide if they were a good fit. A lot of that has reversed; employees are interviewing companies. To stay competitive, employers need to find new ways to stand out beyond offering a “great company culture” or “excellent work-life balance,” especially because that’s what everyone is offering.

At our company, we lead with empathy and offer personalized perks tailored to each person. People are looking to work for a company that actually cares about them and fulfills their needs.

Also Read: Employee Rewards and Recognition for an engaged workforce

The one size fits all, Friday pizza party days are over now. People want to be able to choose what works best for them, whether that be a gym membership, daycare stipend or support for continuing education.

– Amy Spurling, Compt

Think About CYA Squared

A simple but progressive approach to HR is what I call “CYA Squared”: cover your a__ and care for your associates. HR, particularly in California, typically swings the pendulum too far to the first CYA due to fear of a lawsuit. This strategy backfires, and we have witnessed it with the “great resignation.”

Employees are demanding to be seen, heard, and cared for in the workplace. Let’s face it, don’t we all want that?

Moving forward, companies will need to be mindful to swing the pendulum too far to the second CYA, causing them to get burned. Too much of anything is not good and ping pong tables and policies aren’t going to cut it.

HR will need to play a significant role in helping businesses find a new balance, creating a psychologically safe and compliant workplace. We’ve already seen what happens without it.

– Dawn Myers, Guided Leadership Solutions

Continue Leveraging Social Media

Recruiters reaching out to talent over social media platforms like LinkedIn will increase as “The Great Resignation” resumes, and many are pumping the brakes on applying for jobs. Now more than ever, recruiters are constantly seeing no-shows for job interviews or employees leaving the company after 20+ years — even some CEOs are taking a step down.

The current job market is turning into not what a company can do for you, but what an employee can do for them. In today’s day, whichever business will respond to the fastest and offer the best benefits will retain top talent. Recruiters are utilizing their professional circles, such as LinkedIn, to successfully get more people into the office than walking out the door.

– Lance Herrington, UNICO Nutrition

Make Data-Driven HR Decisions

HR reps have to deal with a lot of data on a daily basis. This data can be streamlined to help HR process it more efficiently. HR analytics allows professionals to get deeper insights into the data they receive.

With these metrics, professionals can find correlations such as voluntary turnover and promotion wait times. Having data-driven HR is a progressive approach that improves workflows. I expect this to be a rising trend.

– Evan Zhao, Revela Health

Conduct “Stay” Interviews

As we continue to navigate our next, I continue to encourage managers to proactively host “stay” interviews with their individual teammates. The changes since 2020 have altered the work equation. It remains a critical time to discuss with your current teams what they would like as they move with you into 2022.

Ask specific questions about what it will take to keep them on the team as valued members of your organization. Salary, flexibilities, professional development, vacation increases, and new incentive plans are a place to start.

This will be hard work, but will serve as a foundation of deeper trust if you are genuine in these efforts. This is an important moment to be proactive and take action.

– Diane Fennig, The Gallagher Group

Also Read: 6 step guide to conduct effective stay interviews

Cross-Train Team Members

I think companies now need to offer more than just training programs for specific jobs. They need to train all people in all areas of business functions — marketing, graphic design, and human resources so they can be more effective at getting their jobs done.

Too many companies are spending time hiring somebody new, but either never teach them or show them how things work before sending them off on their own. There should be a unified system where you’re not constantly managing your employees but helping them grow professionally and be more like business owners themselves.

– Iryna Kutnyak, Quoleady

We created this article in association with Terkel. It is a community-driven knowledge platform that creates content based on expert insights.

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Hiring Advice: Staffing and Employment Trends You Need to Know

It’s been a tough couple of months for many people around the globe, with global mass layoffs hitting hard in the middle of 2022 and continuing into the beginning of 2024. It’s been a challenging time, but there are some bright spots on the horizon, too. One of the most interesting staffing and employment trends that we’re seeing is the use of new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to help companies identify the best candidates for their open positions.

Also Read: Hello from Marissa AI- Your AI Enablement Coach

Another trend that’s been growing in popularity is the use of virtual interviews and job fairs. With so many people working remotely due to the pandemic, it’s become easier and more convenient to hold these events online. That means that job seekers can connect with potential employers from anywhere in the world, without having to worry about travel or other logistical challenges.

Finally, we’re seeing more emphasis being placed on soft skills in recruiting. While technical skills are still important, many companies are realizing that things like communication, teamwork, and adaptability are just as crucial in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing work environment.

All in all, while it’s been a tough time for many people, some exciting new developments in recruiting could help job seekers find their way to new opportunities in the future.

Importance of Staffing and Employment Trends

Staffing and employment trends are changing. It helps businesses to anticipate and gear up for future changes and make informed decisions. Knowing the latest recruitment trends will help an organization identify and retain real talent, maximizing productivity and success.

As the growing demand for technical and digital needs influences the recruitment strategy, it requires better talent management that can streamline designations and acceptance of remote working globally.

Also Read: A Complete Overview of Talent Management in a Changing Global Workspace

Top 10 Staffing and Employment Trends in 2024

The workplace should prioritize employee well-being, flexible working mode, and diversity as key to retaining organizational talent. Though workplace trends have irreversibly changed as an aftermath of the pandemic in 2020, the new status quo isn’t static and demands new trends. It can help focus on talent acquisition in the first place, bringing other benefits for employees and the workplace.

The top staffing and employment trends to dominate in 2024 will help deal with hiring freeze, mass layoffs, and other problems.

1. Flexibility in Remote Work

Give your team flexibility to work, which helps retain productive talent. Reports show that 25% of North American jobs will turn to remote mode by the end of this year, with a substantial increase by the coming year.

There is a chance that 64% of employees may consider leaving their jobs if they don’t get the privilege of a flexible mode. This makes more businesses implement the flexible and remote work model, which eventually benefits both employees and employers.

Though flexible and hybrid work modes are preferable, employers wonder how to ensure that teams work productively. As the flexible mode is here to stay, mostly after the pandemic, there is an increased effort by employees to measure productivity and optimize it for better outcomes. Deploying a hybrid work mode can boost employee productivity. It can further help with effective constant performance reviews.

Also Read: How to Prepare for the Future of Remote Workforce

2. Hiring Based on Data

If you’re an employer looking to make smart hiring decisions, it’s worth considering a data-driven approach to recruitment. By analyzing data about candidates’ qualifications and expertise, you can gain valuable insights that can help you make more informed hiring decisions.

This approach is becoming increasingly popular in the business world, and it’s not hard to see why – with data analytics, you can identify the best candidates for the job more quickly and efficiently than ever before. So, if you want to stay ahead of the curve in your industry, it’s worth exploring the benefits of data-driven hiring.

3. Upskilling

Research focuses on skills gaps, as 64% of managers think their employees don’t match the required skills. Many employees also admit the lack of adequate scope to master skills required for any specific designation.

Organizations are focusing on employees’ growth and development and inculcating ways for continuous learning. It provides better opportunities to develop new skills that also work as a retention strategy. Unique learning opportunities by employers are what employees will look for, including both soft and hard skills. Further, it can help employees succeed in their designated roles, benefitting the organization.

The job market has brought challenges for employers and employees and the need to focus on new skills. In return, it will help employees instill competitive traits to remain focused and work at par with the competitive market. Developing new skills is a way to increase the efficiency of a team.

4. Contingent Workers

The prolonged disruption and uncertainty in the hiring process caused by the pandemic pose serious challenges for companies. A fluctuating business needs flexibility and hiring contingent labor to meet the demands. Employers often found this hiring more profitable than regular employment. To handle the procurement of contingent labor, a vendor management system can help. Even social media marketing tools can help appeal to the contingent laborers with a different interview process.

5. Recruiters to Become Business Leaders

The employee-centric approach is among the latest HR recruitment trends in 2024 when recruiters want to plan strategically in hiring. The recruiting leaders are expected to bring a new perspective to hiring talents. The strategies should align with business goals, advising clients to achieve their best. Recruiting will become creative as most of the work will get automated. It will be less about execution with more focused on talent strategy.

Also Read: Why Your Business Needs This Foolproof Talent Retention Strategy

6. Gen Z Entering the Business Team

With Gen Z entering the workforce, 47% of Gen Z employees are identified as BIPOC compared to 34% of Gen X and 25% of boomers. Besides, 69% feel that they are paid fairly. Due to their young age and stage in their career, Gen Z employees can work in hospitality and retail, which is considered low paying. Also, this is the Gen Z that was hit hard with job loss due to the impact of the pandemic in 2020. With these scenarios, employers get an opportunity to hire and retain diverse talent in the workforce. Considering the new recruitment trends, employers should create a comprehensive environment to acknowledge Gen Z and their perspectives better.

It looks like we can expect some big changes in staffing and employment trends as we move into 2024, especially when it comes to the expectations of Gen Z workers. One of the biggest shifts we’re likely to see is a demand for speed – this generation is used to a fast-paced, digital world, and they’re not going to be interested in a slow, outdated hiring process.

To keep up with this demand, we can expect to see more recruitment processes and agencies focusing on mobile-based applications and automation. These tools can make the hiring process faster and more efficient, which is exactly what Gen Z workers are looking for. So, if you’re a recruiter or employer, it’s worth considering how you can update your processes to meet the needs of this new generation of workers.

7. Focus on Employee Experience

The focus has now shifted to employee experience and the trend is continuing. It accelerates the need to improve employee experience and develop programs targeting their well-being, promoting work-life balance, and encouraging them to stay. It offers a positive experience to candidates with other options to look for; thus, retaining talents can help the organization.

If you want to attract the best candidates to your organization, it’s important to focus on creating a positive employee experience. This means making it easy for candidates to apply for jobs and providing them with multiple reasons to be interested in the role you’re offering.

One key aspect of creating a positive employee experience is company culture. Candidates want to work for organizations that prioritize their employees’ well-being and happiness, and that offers a supportive and inclusive environment.

When companies focus on creating a positive employee experience, it can pay off in many ways. They’re more likely to attract and retain top talent, and they may even see increased profitability and success as a result.

So, if you want to stay competitive in the job market in 2024 and beyond, it’s worth considering how you can create a positive employee experience and company culture that will help you win over the best candidates.

Also Read: The Complete Guide to Employee Health and Well-Being Strategy

8. Emphasis on Equity and Diversity

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are roles that the HR manager is responsible for handling. These directly affect the recruitment process and talent acquisition. Research shows how diverse companies see high revenues, are likely to capture new markets, and have increased cash flow for employees.

Organizations are trying to develop a diverse workforce, and recruiters are responsible for identifying and including candidates from diverse areas. This is where 3 out of 4 job seekers look for diverse companies, knowing employers prioritize diversity in the workplace. It is important to include this among the recruitment trends and tips for 2024.

There are differences in attitude among employers when it comes to deploying the DEI initiative. Research states that 72% of workers from 18 to 34 years old consider leaving a job offer or resigning if company managers don’t support DEI initiatives. And the percentage varies depending on the age group.

9. Collaboration between Talent Acquisition and Management

To have strong talent pools, there should be a team-centric mindset. Talent managers should collaborate with the talent acquisition team and identify the essential prospects. The main focus of the acquisition team should be to connect the talent managers with prospects that can upgrade their skills to fill the gaps.

Companies should work on investing in new talent because the economy has been hit hard since the pandemic. It has resulted in a stringent market, and businesses need to adopt diverse talent acquisition strategies. Hiring must be more than just finding the right person to appoint. To keep up with the latest staffing and employment trends, go by a suitable talent pool and avoid risks.

Also Read: How to Use Talent Analytics to Inform Your Business Strategy

10. Prioritizing Brand Image over Open Positions

In today’s competitive job market, job seekers are not just looking for a high salary package. They also research a company’s brand reputation before considering a job offer. This means that HR departments need to adopt marketing skills to attract top talent and ensure their company’s branding is positive in the marketplace.

Effective branding involves paying attention to ethical standards, employee satisfaction, workplace culture, and financial stability within an organization. By prioritizing these elements, companies can enhance their brand reputation and attract the best candidates to help drive their success.

Wrap Up

These are the latest staffing and employment trends that are to stay and dominate in 2024. It gives employers a scope to have a competitive edge over their competitors. It also assures organizations that they are prepared for the future of work in 2024. Businesses can create strong teams to build a successful organization by leveraging these trends.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What can be the impact of talent shortage at the workplace?

Ans. Talent shortage at the workplace can have several negative impacts, such as difficulty in finding qualified candidates, decreased productivity, increased workload for existing employees, longer time to fill open positions, higher recruitment costs, and increased turnover rates. It can also lead to decreased competitiveness and hinder growth opportunities for businesses.

Q2. What trends do you see for recruiting, staffing, and hiring in 2024?

Ans. The following trends are going to dominate in 2024 in the arena of hiring and employment:

Increased adoption of artificial intelligence and machine learning in recruitment processes to enhance efficiency and accuracy in candidate selection.
A focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives to promote a more inclusive workplace and attract a diverse pool of candidates.
Greater emphasis on soft skills and emotional intelligence in candidate evaluation, as employers seek to build more collaborative and empathetic teams.
The continued growth of remote work and hybrid work models, requiring recruiters and hiring managers to develop new strategies for assessing candidate suitability for remote roles.
The rise of gig work and freelancing, has led to an increase in the use of freelancers and contractors as a flexible staffing solution.
The use of social media and digital platforms to source and engage candidates, including the integration of chatbots and video interviewing tools.
The adoption of gamification techniques in recruitment processes to make them more engaging and interactive for candidates.
Greater attention to employer branding and employee experience as organizations seek to differentiate themselves in a competitive job market.
An increased focus on upskilling and reskilling programs to develop existing employees’ skills and retain talent.
The adoption of blockchain technology to improve the security and accuracy of candidate data and streamline the background checking process.

Q3. What are the common recruitment methods?

Ans. The common methods are internal recruitment, candidate search, talent search, recruitment agencies, and social media advertisement. Besides, the shift to remote work, focus on diversity, and the inclusion of AI and automation.

How Do the Best Organizations Identify and Develop Top Talent

How to identify talent in an organization? Workforce management is a consideration of many parts for any business. It goes beyond scheduling and how to best leverage your employees – including their potential. Identifying and developing top talent is a significant step toward workforce efficiency as you position your best assets and people in positions and paths that would work best.

Identifying Talent

Managing your workforce should involve understanding who the talent in your organization is – and what their potential is. To achieve the most practical workforce efficiency, it would make sense to see where your assets are and then figure out how to support them.

There are, of course, any number of ways to assess employees for their potential, but often it will be dictated by what the company does and what is most needed. However, creating a talent development program that all employees can use may be the best option.

Also Read: A Complete Overview of Talent Management in a Changing Workplace

Developing Talent

When it comes to developing talent within an organization, giving every member of an organization a chance to build these skills is a wise move. Creating a training system that works within all levels to help identify potential superstars will do much of the work for you in identifying your most talented assets.

Also Read: The Value of Employee Development in the Modern Workplace

With such a system in place, by the time these talented employees are identified, they are already involved in talent development. But how can you take this further, and what sort of elements make for a talent-building program?

Set Clear Objectives

Objectives are an element of workforce efficiency. They serve as a guiding principle for decisions at all business levels. How well do your company’s plans to develop talent account for the overall objectives of the company? These two things should be closely linked.

For example, if your company is transitioning from products to a service-based economy, your employees should begin training in skill sets involved with service-based markets. After all, According to the UCLA Anderson Review, “the products and service businesses of the information economy make up about 62% of U.S. GNP as of 2017, up from about 46% in 1967.” Subscription or service-based duties would encounter a separate skill set from marketing one-and-done purchases – rapidly becoming a reality for many employers.

Rethink Skill Sets

When an employee is hired, they may have experiences and skills not utilized in their current position. Still, they can be used as the company’s objectives change, or market forces dictate. Taking a periodic inventory of employees’ skill sets outside of what is expected of the current positions is a vital step toward building workforce efficiency, as businesses must pivot for various reasons. Being an internal resource, employees may offer a wealth of untapped potential for transitions to new avenues.

Upskilling initiatives are also a great way to develop talent. As work grows more decentralized across entire industries, that can leave some employees behind in a skill gap as they must learn new technology and processes that differ from their in-office skills. Helping sales talent adapt to new at-home work methods is an excellent example of rethinking job skills and developing talent.

Also Read: How to Build a Successful Upskilling and Reskilling Program

Provide Multiple Learning Options

An essential element of developing top talent internally is understanding that different learning styles exist. In a broader sense, only some employees will benefit from training the same way, so instructional designers should work multiple training alternatives into whatever talent development program exists. Your talent development program must use various learning methods to improve workforce efficiency.

How many avenues are available for skill development? Do you offer on-the-job learning, coaching, mentorship, and self-guided instruction? These are valid learning styles that result in the potential growth of talent. When designing your skills training, don’t put all your effort into one method. According to a 2019 Training Industry report, 39% of midsize companies use a classroom-led approach to training, 25% blended learning methods, and 17% utilize virtual classrooms.

Also Read: Benefits of Implementing an Employee Career Development Program

Foster a Positive Culture

Promoting a workplace culture around developing talents and skills is critical to make employees more valuable. A strong business fosters a culture of adaptability and exploration. Allowing employees to explore processes and operations outside their department can create a cohesive and efficient workplace.

Making learning a core tenant of employment opens up many options for workforce efficiency. Major companies are investing heavily in education and learning within their workforce, such as in the case of Visa. Their usage of Visa University, an internal training program, yielded surprising results.

Embrace Coaching

One-on-one coaching in the workplace provides many benefits and should be integrated into any program to improve workforce efficiency. Coaching is one of the best ways for a business to leverage experience in a way that directly motivates and educates employees. Coaches can not only help instruct on job-specific processes but can help close skill gaps and promote personal growth. Employees also want coaching: One statistic suggests that 67% of Gen X leaders want more external coaching, and 57% want external development.

Businesses can do coaching within the company by pairing experienced employees with new employees, but external coaching can also be quite valuable. Thanks to their distance from the company’s existing culture, such coaches can identify areas that need improvement or skills that staff should be building to be more effective overall.

Develop Leadership

Finding leadership and seeking it out at all company levels is critical to increasing workforce efficiency. So often, companies make the mistake of promoting from a poor pool of candidates through rote promotion habits and only looking at one level. A good leadership development plan allows anyone from any group to be put on a path toward becoming the kind of leader the company needs.

Great leaders can come from anywhere within the company. It just becomes a matter of opportunity to develop those skills and recognition to be in such positions. Developing leadership through training programs is a substantial investment toward workforce efficiency.

Workforce Efficiency Through Talent Development

Understanding how to leverage your company’s #1 resource – the people within- is vital for improving business. Recognizing that talent needs to be discovered, fostered, and developed is one of the most crucial long-term success factors. Leveraging employee development and upskilling to embrace and enhance skills through proper scheduling also presents opportunities.

Employers can also use AI to optimize employee scheduling. An optimized schedule, factoring in training and development, means a more efficient workforce.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How do you develop and retain top talent in an organization?

Ans. Developing and retaining top talent in an organization requires a multi-faceted approach that includes:

Offering competitive salaries
Providing ongoing training and development opportunities
Fostering a positive work environment
Recognizing and rewarding top performers
Having a strong employer brand and reputation
Providing opportunities for advancement and promotion
Providing a work-life balance and supporting employees’ well-being

Q2. What are the five key areas of talent development?

Ans. Here are the five key areas of talent development:

Skill Development: Building specific skills that are relevant to the individual’s field of work
Knowledge Enhancement: Staying up-to-date with the latest industry trends, news, and technologies
Leadership and Management Skills: Developing effective communication, delegation, decision-making, and conflict resolution skills
Personal Growth: Building emotional intelligence, self-awareness, adaptability, and resilience
Creativity and Innovation: Developing the ability to think outside the box, take risks, be open-minded, and embrace change

Engagedly partners with Go1 to unlock the potential of the modern workforce with dynamic, interactive learning courses.

Engagedly, an award-winning solution provider of performance management and employee engagement software, announced its new partnership with Go1, the largest curated eLearning library from the world’s top training providers.

Today, retaining the right talent and building high-performance teams are getting increasingly challenging. The skills pool is shrinking day by day and poses a threat to organizations to be successful. It is crucial for businesses to adopt an LMS as a key component in their people strategy.

Engagedly and Go1’s integration lets you access world-class content that will enable your organization to level up and win in the #FutureOfWork. Engagedly has always prioritized employee development and growth which aligns with Go1’s vision. This integration is designed to create an impact that will help organizations scale their workforce.

‘To keep up with the ever-evolving nature of work, employees need to develop their abilities and skills. We are thrilled to partner with Go1 to provide our customers access to the LMS content they need to succeed in the future of work. This partnership will further strengthen our agile LMS and help organizations tackle the skills gap and build a competent workforce’, said Sri Chellappa, President/Co-Founder of Engagedly.

‘We are proud and delighted to be embarking on this partnership with an award-winning provider like Engagedly focused on performance and engagement, two critical issues for today’s organizations. This new alliance will further power Go1’s mission to give learners, teams and organizations access to the world’s best learning content, enabling them to upskill, reskill, engage and optimize their potential’, said Basem Emera, SVP Partnerships and Alliances, Go1.

Key features of the integration include:

Seamless integration with Engagedly gives you access to courses from 200+ providers
Access 100,000+ engaging digital learning resources for your employees, as and when you need it
Facilitates learning across geographies, durations, styles, and levels
A diverse range of training, whether it be compliance, technical, or soft skills development
Wide range of topics provided by a versatile collection of global, regional, and specialized providers
Pre-curated playlists to build learning programs that are relevant to everyone

About Go1:

Go1 makes it easy for organizations to learn, with the world’s most comprehensive online library of learning resources. Go1 pulls the world’s top online learning providers into one place, delivering all the learning an organization needs in a single solution. With over 3.5 million learners – and growing – Go1 is a world leader in online learning.Go1.com has raised over US$280M in total funding from investors including AirTree Ventures, Blue Cloud Ventures, Larsen Ventures, Madrona Venture Group, M12, Our Innovation Fund, Oxford University, Salesforce Ventures, SEEK, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, TEN13, and Y Combinator. To learn more, visit www.go1.com.

About Engagedly:

Engagedly is a fast-paced growth provider and an award-winning talent management solution provider. Built upon best practices and decades of research, Engagedly’s People + Strategy platform is evolving performance management, development, and engagement to drive successful organizational outcomes across the globe.

Engagedly Launches AI Everywhere with Marissa™ your Enablement Coach

St. Louis, MO Feb-16-2023 – Combining the powerful Engagedly’s People+Strategy suite with AI based enablement will usher in a new era of engagement, development and growth for employees.

Engagedly, the leading People Strategy platform for the #Futureofwork, is thrilled to announce the launch of its revolutionary product – Marissa, your AI enablement coach. This first-of-its-kind technology and approach in talent management utilizes contextual AI to help employees, managers, and people leaders build a highly engaged, high-performance organization.

Marissa’s mission is to enable better conversations between employees and their managers. She will provide users with personalized feedback on how they can become better communicators and leaders through her advanced capabilities such as giving effective feedback, and recognition, developing insights from engagement surveys, sentiment analysis tools, and more.

“We are excited to introduce Marissa as our new AI enablement coach at Engagedly,” said Sri Chellappa, President and CEO of Engagedly. “We believe that having an AI-powered coach in every organization would lead to a dramatic improvement in engagement levels among employees as well as build more effective teams. Our goal is to make sure that everyone has the tools necessary for People Success within their organizations and Marissa will be the key driver for this initiative.”

Marissa’s innovative features will help both employees and their managers work with each other better. Through her advanced capabilities such as coaching on effective feedback, recognizing achievements and understanding sentiment analysis results from employee surveys;

For employees, Marissa will provide personalized guidance on how they can become better communicators and leaders within their organizations.

For people leaders and HR, She will help them develop insights from engagement surveys and listening tools within Engagedly, which will be instrumental in helping them understand what areas need improvement or attention within the company. In the near future, Marissa will also be able to identify high performers, talent risks, opportunities for skill development, and overall employee growth initiatives.

For managers, Marissa will provide them with valuable data points on how they can improve communication with their team members as well as give them actionable steps that they can take towards improving engagement levels within their teams.

The introduction of Marissa as Engagedly’s AI enablement coach marks a major milestone in our journey towards creating enablement tools for a high performance organization for all our clients.

With Marissa AI we can empower employees, managers and HR alike to achieve greater success within their respective roles.

About Engagedly:

To know more about Engagedly, visit https://engagedly.com/.

Tips and Ideas to Welcome Back Employees from a Year-End Break

As the holidays come to an end and the offices reopen for another term of big goals, crunching numbers, and a busy 9 to 5 routine, it is important to give the employees an energetic welcome. After the celebratory break, the employees often find the transition to work mode difficult. As administrators, we must make the employees feel at ease, energetic, and excited to be back. According to a study, 87% of HR departments prioritize employee retention. It is no secret that employee acquisition is considerably more expensive than employee retention. It can be tricky to find new ways to welcome back employees. In this blog, we will present you with quite a few compelling ideas to welcome back employees.

Also Read: Best Employee Engagement Strategies for a Better Workplace

Ideas to Welcome Back Employees

The reopening of offices after a long break can be a great opportunity for employees to start over and set new targets. Welcoming them back with positive energy can encourage them and increase their productivity.

An interesting activity is not only great for team building, but it also helps employees feel more motivated. Let’s check out ideas to welcome back employees that we have listed for you!

1. Host an Interactive Session

During the holidays, every employee plans some kind of activity to make their vacations interesting. Hosting an interactive session is an excellent way to induce communication among the employees and create a positive atmosphere.

You can organize a team meeting or an all-hands to discuss the plans and goals for the upcoming year. You can also host a year-end progress meeting with the employees to talk to them about milestones achieved during the whole term. This can help employees feel connected to the company’s mission and purpose. Display a Twitter wall and showcase the year’s agendas, activities, and other exciting achievements.

You can ask your employees to post on Twitter about their holiday learning and experiences with a specific hashtag, for example, #HolidayStories2023.

Twitter walls run in real time; so whenever an employee uploads a new story, it will automatically get displayed. It is a great way to host an interactive session and learn more about your employees.

2. Send Them Goodies

A little token of appreciation for your employees can make a big difference. The holiday season is all about giving. And according to a study, an average employee spends more time with their employees than with their families.

This makes it even more important to treat your employees with warmth and do a little extra for them to show them your appreciation.

You don’t have to go overboard with this. You can simply give them Welcome Back cards, office goodies like mugs, notepads, or gift cards.

3. Give Employees Time to Settle Down

It is important to be realistic while setting goals for your employees. The first few days back in the office might not be the most productive, but it is important to give them time to settle down and let them catch their pace gradually.

A great amount of credit for efficient teamwork in any organization goes to good team rapport. Without having a well-built team, you cannot work efficiently.

Letting the employees communicate with each other is a significant part of any work culture and a very common pattern at any organization.

After all, employees spend the maximum number of hours of their day at work. Let your employees socialize and interact with one another.

Also Read: How Internal Communication Can Align Employee with Organizational Goals?

4. Don’t Be Strict with Timings

In the first few days after the year-end break, it is essential to stay flexible with the timings. During the holidays, employees pick up a different work schedule altogether. Some travel to different cities and countries while some spend time with their families and friends.

After the break, it is important to stay flexible with work hours and schedules. This allows the employees to feel free and not be weighed down by stringent work hours.

Show the team that you care by offering them a bit more flexibility in the first few weeks to help them adjust to returning to work.

5. Organize a Team-Building Event

A team-building event can be a great way to help employees reconnect and feel comfortable working together again. It could be something simple like a lunch or a happy hour or something more elaborate like a chat session.

You can also host an activity including social media by asking your employees to post about their most memorable moments from the holidays on Instagram with a particular hashtag.

You can then use a social media aggregation and display tool to create an Instagram wall and display it on a digital screen at work and encourage employees to talk about their holidays. Instagram wall functions in real time, so the content posted by your employees will be featured automatically on the screen.

Over to You

Finally, the best way to make your employees productive again after the year-end break is to implement a compelling strategy. Employees are the greatest asset to any organization. Any plan working toward a motive that supports employee retention should be implemented immediately.

Every company’s revenue runs on customer relations, sales, and many other important factors that are not possible without efficient employees and good teamwork. As long as your employees are happy at work, you will see great results.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How do you welcome employees back from annual leave?

Ans. Couple of ideas to welcome employees back from annual leave:

An event to catch up
Gifts and goodies
Impromptu socializing
A team-building activity
Float a few fun and casual surveys to lighten the mood

Q2. What is a good welcome message?

Ans. Any of these can be used as a good welcome message:

Hey there! Welcome to the team! We are thrilled to have you back!
Welcome to the team! We have a small present for you to show our appreciation. Hope you like it!
So excited to have you on the team! Looking forward to work with you.

Author: Saurabh Sharma

Saurabh Sharma is a Digital Marketing Executive at Taggbox, a leading UGC platform. He has three years of experience in the Information Technology industry. He spends his time reading about new trends in Digital Marketing and the latest technologies.

Peer Learning: 6 Benefits of Collaboration in the Workplace

Let’s talk collaborations. There is no doubt your Stranger Things lego is fantastic, but I mean collabs that boost your business growth — between your team members.

But there is a problem: traditional one-way learning doesn’t work, and managers’ advice isn’t in demand either. It is more comfortable for peers to ask other peers for help and learn from them accordingly. That’s what we call collaborative learning. Employees can discuss ideas without pressure. For an employee, it is a faster and more efficient alternative to traditional learning. But what can it bring your business?

In this article, we unpack the compelling benefits of peer learning and how your company can take advantage of it.

What is Peer-to-peer Learning?

You probably know tools like Google Docs, Discord, or Asana if you read this article. Each product engages users to collaborate on tasks and provides a list of relevant features to make it real: commenting, asking questions, giving feedback, etc. Collaborative learning mirrors this approach.

Collaborative or peer-to-peer learning is about connecting employees and sharing knowledge based on their experience and needs to cover skill gaps within a company.

Thus, instead of learning from an instructor, team lead, or manager, peers guide each other, discuss ideas, practice them, get 360-degree feedback, and reflect on what has been learned.

It would be easier for you to get collaborative learning (bottom-up) idea by comparing it with typical top-down corporate training:

Image source

But you definitely can’t go without a knowledge base, aka a single repository comprising the most important information all employees must know about your product and the company. It’s easy to publish, edit, and categorize articles/infographics/videos there and then share them with the team. If you are looking to create such a tool, take a glimpse at the review of knowledge base software conducted by Helpcrunch.

How peer-to-peer learning works:

Peer learning happens in a group or pairs.

The first case example is role-playing sales calls with a team and then discussing what is good and what could be better.
The second case is when an employee has a business problem like “I don’t know how to build a strategy for a strong social media presence.” And there is a more experienced teammate who provides mentorship on this question.

This way, individual knowledge transforms into a full-fledged reusable training course.

Also Read: 6 Tips on How to Upskill Employees Successfully

How Can Your Company Benefit From Peer Learning?

There are numerous advantages your business gets after collaborative learning implementation. In addition to both beneficial growths, it is people engagement, improved team performance, strong company culture, etc.

Let’s look at the best of them.

1. Save Budget

Peer learning is an excellent alternative to expensive courses, training programs, workshops, or instructors to upskill your team’s professional knowledge level. There is no need to spend money on that if the top trainers are already within your company.

By utilizing the existing skills in the company, you pay with your employees’ time only. That is almost free compared to traditional employee learning.

Moreover, the gained knowledge, skill, or experience loss is not possible. Implementing an employee-to-employee learning program creates an internal academy with a non-stop knowledge flow, boosting company expertise.

For example, you purchased your marketer Sarah an online course. With peer learning, there is no option that the gained experience can leave your company together with Sarah’s cup when she quits. Your investment will continue to work for your company in the face of teammates she trained.

2. Engage Team Experts in Knowledge Sharing

Hiring a senior-level expert can bring massive growth to your business. But there is a high chance of losing it when this person leaves your company.

Peer-to-peer learning allows you to accumulate that experience within your company.

But a perspective of the budget economy isn’t the best motivation for your staff to join this initiative. So to engage them to share the knowledge, you should explain that it is a win-win for everyone:

“Students” have an opportunity to practice new skills with experts in a comfortable way. They can stop, discuss everything together, and learn from mistakes by practicing the same task repeatedly. Eventually, employees grow in their roles and salary.
By coaching others, expert “teachers” polish their skills to make them perfect. In addition to a harmless ego boost, it is an excellent opportunity to refresh knowledge and see new professional aspects to grow.

To make the most out of this collaboration, send a meeting request email to all interested team members to help them plan their workload and time wisely. Moreover, knowledge and experience aren’t the only things employees transfer in such a collaboration. Probably without even noticing, they share company values as well.

3. Improve Company Culture

The best way to learn something is to practice it with those who are more experienced but still similar to us. Motivation and engagement skyrocket when we see a live example of what we’ll get at the end of the path. That’s why we absorb knowledge and work methods as quickly as the professional views of those who teach us.

Imagine, for instance, a company CEO implementing a new rule of customer support — “always explain the reasons.” But you can’t see how it influences your work, and follow it only when managers watch.

It is a different matter when your teammate details how this rule helped him convey ten angry clients who refused refunds and then helps you to practice this approach. After such training, the “always explain the reasons” rule becomes your best sales instrument, but not a management requirement.

The same thing goes for each of your company values.

4. Build Learning Retention

The best way to learn something is non-stop practice. But as always, routine tasks don’t cover all the knowledge you gained from a course or previous job. In such a scenario, after 7-30 days, you’ll forget a vast part of it. Hermann Ebbinghaus proved it.

Image source

Thus, even for the best of us, regress is inevitable.

To avoid forgetting at school, students work in pairs and teach others. The same works in the workplace: employees stick their knowledge in memory through regular teaching and training each other.

5. Onboard New Employees

Staying alone with a task and a list of guidance docs to read with no idea whom to chat with for explanation was my worst first day at a new job. Asking my manager wasn’t an option because I feared looking incompetent. So I got stuck.

Such a situation is common. It causes a massive lag in productivity for an employee as well as for a company.

The fix?

Collaborative learning! Create the best onboarding experience for office and remote employees by assigning mentors, for example. The onboarding goes faster and easier with a comfortable peer (not a manager) who shows newcomers the ropes and teaches through that first week.

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

6. Improve Team Performance

Peer learning is about communication and understanding as well. After such a collaboration, each of your team members is on the same page about company goals and motivated to achieve them.

The high level of collective skill and synchronization of the team when its members can share tasks and support each other when needed bring you over fulfillment of the OKRs plan.

Summary

Peer learning is impossible without employees’ desire to join this initiative. So, it would be best if you spent some time delivering the benefits mentioned above to show how mentoring can be helpful to each of them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What do you mean by peer learning in the workplace?

Ans. In a workplace, peer learning refers to the method of learning where coworkers teach other coworkers. This is a good method that organizations can adopt to upskill employees.

Q2. What are the characteristics of peer learning?

Ans. Collaboration, communication, reflection, and self and peer assessment are the characteristics of peer learning.

Q3. What are the 3 important skills for collaboration?

Ans. The 3 important skills for collaboration are communication, respect for diversity, and trust.

This article is written by Julia Serdiuk.

Julia Serdiuk is an Outreach Specialist at HelpCrunch, an innovative platform to build relationships with customers. She is a bookworm and yoga enthusiast who appreciates life in its various manifestations.

Six Trends That Will Shape HR Strategies In 2025

Everything about Human Resources has changed progressively in the past two years – remote or hybrid working models, global recruitment, remote onboarding, and increased dependency on technology. Many of these strategies were already in practice before, but the pandemic made them mainstream.

Besides adjusting to the shift, HRs globally faced unprecedented challenges such as the Great Resignation, increased cases of employee burnout and mental health problems, and issues pertaining to employee engagement and retention. As we step into the third year of the pandemic, organizations have learned and experimented with different HR strategies.

Although the top priorities of HR will continue to be reshaped or evolve continuously, one thing’s for sure: they will be people-focused and business-oriented.

Here’s a list of HR strategies or trends that we can see or continue to see in the year 2025.

Employee Well-Being and Mental Health

In 2025, employee well-being and mental health remain at the heart of HR strategy, but now, AI is a significant driver in shaping these initiatives. Over the last few years, well-being has transitioned from a ‘good-to-have’ to a ‘must-have,’ becoming an integral part of HR strategies that drive both engagement and productivity. As work and personal boundaries continue to blur with hybrid and remote work models, challenges like stress, burnout, anxiety, and isolation have become even more prevalent.

The post-pandemic era has accelerated the adoption of AI-driven solutions to address these challenges. AI tools are now essential for personalizing well-being support, from mental health apps that offer real-time coaching to AI-powered surveys that detect early signs of burnout.

During the pandemic, many organizations prioritized investments in well-being and mental health initiatives. In a survey of 52 HRs by Gartner in 2020, they found that:

- 94% of organizations made substantial investments in well-being programs.
- 85% increased support for mental health-related benefits.
- 50% extended additional support for physical well-being.
- 38% enhanced support for financial wellness.
The survey also highlighted that employees who utilized these benefits experienced a 23% improvement in mental health and a 17% boost in physical health. However, despite these efforts, only 40% of employees actively engaged with the available benefits.

As we move further into 2025, organizations need to ensure not just the presence of well-being and mental health programs but also active utilization. Achieving this requires integrating these initiatives into core HR strategies and aligning them with broader business goals.

It will not only help in improving employee retention and engagement, but will also result in improved productivity, focus, and morale.

P.S. Employers have become more empathetic and understanding towards their employees in the pandemic era.

Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is crucial for all, and with the pandemic, it has gained more prominence.

Those who could manage to switch off their screens after working from 9 to 5 are great! But for others, as mentioned before, office and non-office hours got convoluted. This being said, some recognized that they work best sporadically in their highly productive hours.

Nevertheless, on a larger scale, the struggle to maintain the work-life balance while working from home has been real. It is something that HRs need to keep in mind while developing effective HR strategies in 2025.

For some, work-life balance means spending time with family; for others, it means indulging in personal development or self-care. Having a work-life balance gives employees a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Additionally, it helps in reducing stress and fatigue. Ultimately, employees who are able to maintain a synergistic relationship between work and life, are more productive, engaged, and look forward to work every day.

Hybrid Work Will Continue To Grow And The Rise Of Metaverse

In a recent survey by Accenture, it was found that 83% of employees prefer working in a hybrid setup, and 63% of organizations have already adopted the “productivity anywhere” workforce model.

Globally, the last two years saw eminent changes in the way everyone worked. Hybrid work has now become the well-accepted norm in organizations and is here to stay.

Hybrid work benefits both the employer and the employees. It has given employees the flexibility to work from anywhere and have a better work-life balance. On the other hand, it has reduced employee overhead costs, office maintenance, and logistics.

In 2025, we would not be surprised if hybrid work transitions into the metaverse and meetings and other activities happen. HRs must re-imagine what the post-pandemic world will look like and re-design and innovate HR strategies. They need to focus on creating a fair and just workplace where nobody feels alienated or disconnected because of the place they work.

Irrespective of where they are working, everyone should have access to the right set of tools to collaborate and communicate effectively with each other. Slack, Google Hangouts, Zoom, and numerous other tools are available in the market to help your hybrid workplace stay connected.

Upskilling and Reskilling for Competitive Edge and Internal Mobility

Upskilling and reskilling of employees have always been a key part of core HR strategies. In the pandemic world, it has become more important now than ever. It is not only beneficial for the employees, but the organizations too.

Employees get to build upon their existing skills learn a new skill that helps them grow in their current job role or try out different job roles in the same organization. Access to various EdTech platforms such as Coursera, Udemy, and edX can help your employees with the reskilling and upskilling process.

Also Read: Upskilling and Reskilling: Prepare Employees For The Future

Skilling initiatives are a sign to the employees that organizations have their best interests in mind. It makes them feel valued and important when organizations invest in them. It improves employee engagement and employee retention and helps build a continuous culture of learning in the organization.

On the other hand, organizations are able to close the gap in job demands from within instead of searching outside. It helps them save costs in terms of time and money. In these uncertain times, reskilling and upskilling your employees helps in building a resilient workforce ready for the future. It is a win-win situation for both the organization and the employees.

Creating A Diverse And Inclusive Workforce

A recent survey by Glassdoor highlights that 80% of Asians, 70% of Latinos, 62% of men, 89% of black respondents, and 72 % of women prefer a diverse culture for work.

The above-mentioned survey clearly highlights the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Organizations in the past have worked towards promoting D&I, but now is the time to make it a core part of HR strategy, if it has not been until now.

Organizations must focus on giving equal chances to everyone irrespective of their age, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, educational background, ethnicity, race, political beliefs, etc. With this, organizations would have a bigger talent pool with different skills, capabilities, and experiences. It promotes innovation and teamwork and helps in improving employee engagement and retention.

Example: Currently, the workforce has people working from Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers. Organizations that have relaxed the criteria for age-based hiring will have a workforce where employees can learn from each other based on their experiences. While boomers can share industry knowledge and their experiences with others, at the same time, they themselves can bridge their digital gap.

Also Read: 6 DEI Best Practices to Adopt in 2025

HR Tech Software And Tools

With a global workforce, it is almost close to impossible for the HR team to manage them physically. So the use of HR tech tools and software will be on the rise. Josh Bersin, an industry expert in HR tech, estimates the global market for HR Technology Solutions to be around $400 billion. This number is going to only increase over time. A key part of HR strategy should be to include tools in their day-to-day work that streamline the employee management process. From onboarding to performance management, everything has become virtual due to the pandemic.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q.1. What are HR Strategies?

A. HR Strategies are strategies created by the Human Resources department in collaboration with the leadership team to achieve organizational or business goals by maximum utilization of resources.

Q.2. What are HR Trends?

A. HR trends are changes or trends taking place in the field of human resource management or HR. It affects employee management, engagement, turnover, and retention. So they must respond to these changes and plan accordingly.

Q.3. Which trends will shape HR in the next 5 years?

A. HR trends should keep on evolving and reshaping with the needs of the organization. But here are some common trends that we might continue to see:

Focus on employee well-being and mental health
Work-Life Balance
Adopting Hybrid Work and Metaverse
Upskilling and Reskilling Employees
Creating a Diversified and Inclusive Workforce
HR Tech Software And Tools

Book a free demo with us to learn how Engagedly can help you reshape your HR strategies!

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Coaching vs. Managing: Key Differences, Benefits, and Manager Coaching Tips

The importance of managing a team or department efficiently is well-established. Top leaders recognize that they need effective management to achieve organizational goals. However, one significant aspect of effective management that is often overlooked is coaching.

Coaching vs. Managing: A coach focuses on skill development, engagement, motivation, and a healthy work environment for employees. While managers are responsible for organizing the work, tasks, and processes of their team members.

Managers handle a lot of critical functions and convey confidential information to team members and employees. Hence, team members need to rely on managers for their direction. However, managers also need to ensure other important factors for a company, like employee engagement, motivation, and commitment to goals. They give direction on day-to-day activities and develop problem-solving skills by enabling employees to arrive at their own solutions.

A successful leader needs to assess a situation and decide whether they need to manage or coach the employees. Hence, Managing and Coaching are not interchangeable. Let us discuss what is Coaching in management and how it differs from Managing.

Coaching

Coaching is the act of guiding, engaging, assessing, influencing, and motivating your employees to contribute to organizational goals. It is a two-way process that benefits the management and the other team members.

It serves as a useful means to reduce employee turnover by providing employees with recognition for their work. Coaching boosts employee engagement and increases their level of commitment to organizational goals. The workforce also benefits from the growth and learning opportunities presented to them in such a working environment.

As per Harvard Business Review, direct experience accounts for 70% of employee development in comparison to formal training. Coaching differs from the traditional directive and authoritative approach. The employees are encouraged to come up with innovative solutions. The managers provide the required guidance and support to steer them towards the desired outcome. Although coaching differs from managing in many ways, it can become instrumental to sound management practices.

Managing

Management is the art of getting things done with the help of others. Traditionally, managers are solely focused on achieving a set of outcomes for the organization and give clear and specific instructions to the employees to achieve such goals.

Management involves delegating a task, assigning responsibility, giving direction, and supervising employees. The accurate measure of successful management is the results obtained. However, the absence of coaching can cause employees who rely on the managers to solve every problem they encounter.

Difference Between Coach and Managers

Coaching and managing are two complementary skills. Once a manager understands the difference between coaching vs. managing, they can hone the skills of managing and coaching as and when needed.

Some key differences between coaches and managers are as mentioned below.

Goal-oriented vs. growth-oriented

Managing is a goal-oriented process that ensures that the required outcomes are achieved within the preset deadlines. On the other hand, coaching involves making employees feel valued by enabling them to find solutions through critical thinking. The first step to coaching is to ask a series of questions to help your employees set goals. Hence, facilitating the growth and development of employees.

Authority vs. autonomy

Managers have power over their employees, and they direct such authority to control the work of team members. On the contrary, coaching is based on the premise of having a strong relationship that increases your collective power to achieve long-term growth and success.

While managing is about authority to get things done, coaching provides autonomy to the members of a team.

One-to-many vs. one-to-one relationship

Managing involves leaders instructing an entire team. Coaching, on the other hand, encourages one-to-one relationship building and communication.

Instructions vs. conversation

Managing focuses on giving instructions, supervising performance, and issuing feedback as and when necessary. Hence, managing involves one-way communication.

On the other hand, coaching is a conversation between the managers and the employees. The employees can communicate their objectives, goals, and problems to the employer, who, in turn, can provide their support and guidance.

Crisis management vs. long-term goals

Managing can be suitable for faster decision-making in a crisis. Clear instructions from managers can enable quick execution and remove any room for error. The manager’s experience serves as a valuable resource in crisis management and achieving desired objectives.

Coaching is primarily focused on the long-term goal of both employees and the entity through collaboration and skill development. The employees can communicate their personal growth objectives when managers ask relevant questions and act as a facilitator.

Certainty vs. creativity

Managers use time-tested plans and proven methods to combat a situation and achieve their targets, whereas coaching provides room for creativity and innovation. The employees can come up with their own methodologies to overcome a challenge.

These are some differences between coaches and managers. A successful leader needs to use a mix of these approaches as the situation demands.

However, in some circumstances, it can become difficult to decide between the two alternatives. In such a situation, the 3 Ds of management serves as a useful framework to put an end to the dilemma of coaching vs. managing.

Benefits of Manager Coaching

Manager coaching helps employees feel valued and empowered. It leads to better engagement, higher retention rates, and improved productivity. By focusing on manager coaching, leaders can foster a culture of growth and development, resulting in long-term organizational success.

Increased Employee Engagement
- Manager coaching helps employees feel valued, improving engagement and reducing turnover rates.
- Coaching fosters open communication and trust between managers and employees.
Improved Productivity
- Through effective manager coaching, employees gain confidence and become more self-reliant, leading to increased productivity.
- Coaching helps employees develop problem-solving skills, contributing to more efficient task completion.
Personal and Professional Growth
- Manager coaching encourages employees to pursue skill development, driving their personal and career growth.
- Regular coaching sessions provide guidance and constructive feedback, enabling continuous improvement.
Enhanced Leadership Development
- Coaching empowers managers to develop future leaders within their teams by honing decision-making and leadership abilities.
- It fosters an environment of autonomy where employees take ownership of their roles and growth.
Increased Retention Rates
- When employees feel supported through coaching, they are more likely to remain loyal to the organization.
- Manager coaching promotes a positive work environment, contributing to higher job satisfaction and retention.

Three Ds of successful management

Direct

Directing is a management activity that involves giving clear instructions to the employees about their work, expected results, methodologies to be used, and the deadline for the project. The roles are defined in writing to act as future references, both during and after the task. Templates and examples can also be used to clear out any doubts.

Directing can be helpful when employees have limited experience and competence to complete a task. The situation that requires leaders to direct are:

When an employee is new to the organization.
When they need to handle a new client or customer.
When an employee is assigned a new job role and responsibility.
When they have a different way of working.
When you need to execute a new strategy or plan of action.

Delegate

The delegation represents a mix of managing and coaching. It can work in situations where employees are experienced and have a proven record of competence.

The leaders need to clearly define the expected result and goals. However, the employees should be allowed to choose their own methodologies to arrive at the desired outcome. The role of the manager, in such a case, involves monitoring progress and providing feedback as and when necessary.

Leaders can choose delegation:

When the employee is skilled and confident of their abilities.
When they have the experience and competence to perform the required job role.
When employees are dealing with a sensitive client.
When they have a similar approach to working.

Develop

Developing is a manager coaching activity, where you define the objective and let employees take care of the rest. The leaders do not monitor or control the activity. On successful completion, the employees are appreciated to make them feel valued for their contribution.

The leaders then identify new challenges for the continual growth of the employees. Developing is more suitable for employees who are highly experienced, competent, and committed to their job role. You can choose to develop:

When dealing with a highly skilled and competent workforce.
When employees have performed similar roles and dealt with similar clients.
When employees are focused on developing new skills and competencies.

Tips for Managers to Improve Their Coaching Skills

As per Gallup, a highly motivated workforce that is aware of their strength can lead to 10% to 19% increased sales and 14% to 29% increased profits. Hence, coaching is quintessential to business success. Some tips that can help managers to improve their coaching vs. managing skills are as mentioned below.

An active listener

As a manager, you should motivate the employees and provide them space to put forward their views. A good manager coaching session involves listening carefully to employees and avoiding any chances of miscommunication.

However, if you are too focused on your inner dialogue, you cannot understand their perspective on the situation, and the conversation becomes futile. Hence, a manager needs to inculcate active listening skills.

A constant source of motivation

A successful manager keeps the employees motivated and provides them with a sense of purpose in the organization. When employees feel they are heard and valued, they are more likely to commit to organizational goals and objectives.

To develop self-confidence, the manager should help employees in improving their skills and provide constructive criticism when required.

Growth mindset

A good manager should aim to create an organizational culture where each employee is provided with the space to learn and grow. From time to time, the managers need to shift the focus from end results to the process of achieving those outcomes.

Ask a question and understand any challenges that the team members are encountering. Encourage your employees to come up with their own solutions. This will help them develop their skills and also contribute to organizational growth.

Coaching vs. Managing: Conclusion

Coaching and managing are two management activities that complement each other. For a successful organization that focuses on growth and development, finding a balance between coaching vs. managing becomes critical.

Managing employees requires strategic thinking, clarity of vision, and good communication. The managers should be assertive and authoritative. However, to coach your workforce, you need to have two-way communication where employees are encouraged to pursue their own growth objectives. The managers act as a support mechanism and a guiding force to steer them to success.

When manager coaching is part of the organization’s culture, managers can work alongside employees to achieve unprecedented growth and success.

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Unique Ways to Support Wellness in the Workplace

More and more organizations are realizing that investing in employee wellness can have a big impact on their company. What might seem like an extra cost can not only cause team members to be more productive, but it can see them feel more invested in their company, more connected to their coworkers, and more fulfilled in their personal lives. While happy employees can be unproductive, providing resources to support employees is a great way to set your organization apart from other employers, and take charge of your workplace.

Promote Exercise

Encouraging employees to exercise is a fantastic way to support wellness. There are so many health benefits to both your physical and mental health by getting fit such as a strengthened immune system and reduced stress. This can lead to a more productive environment, as employees who feel healthier and happier are more likely to get more done.

There are many ways to implement a fitness culture and encourage people to get moving. Some companies offer a fitness benefit, where they offer to reimburse employees for their purchases of home fitness equipment. Other ideas could be having a company-wide step challenge, workplace wellness programs, or providing a bike rack for employees to take advantage of biking to work. These kinds of benefits that aren’t a pay rise can change the perception of your workplace and keep employees feeling their best.

Also Read: Workplace Wellbeing Questionnaire: Best Practices & Questions

Watch Out for Screens

Needless to say, sitting at desks and staring at screens all day doesn’t feel the best for our eyes or our bodies. Unfortunately, working remotely or even a computer-based job in the office might mean looking at screens for your whole shift.

Eye strain can not only make you less productive while working, but it can also keep you from enjoying your hobbies outside of work. Promoting the 20-20-20 rule in your workplace can help to prevent eye fatigue, where for every 20 minutes of screen time, you look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

Additionally, comprehensive vision benefits can have tools to help with eye strain. Making sure that different types of contacts in the market are covered can help employees make better health decisions for themselves. While some contacts might have the correct prescription, a different type might work better, so providing a vision plan that works for everyone is crucial.

Mandated PTO

Vacations are a vital stress management tool. Taking time to stop thinking about work and focus on your personal life is incredibly important. Many companies provide generous or even unlimited paid time off but don’t see the rewards in the workplace and are confused. Creating a culture where employees feel comfortable taking their time off is essential for supporting wellness in the workplace.

One way is to give employees a certain amount of PTO and not let it roll over year-to-year, so employees will “use it or lose it!”, or provide unlimited vacation time and mandate that a certain amount of time be used. Mandating a minimum amount per year (and that a certain amount must be contiguous) can get employees to take the breaks they need and focus on their own wellness.

Remote (Option)

The pandemic forced many companies to go remote to promote their wellness so that they wouldn’t be exposed to COVID-19. However, coming through the other side, many companies are realizing that being hybrid or fully remote has other benefits to employee health.

Working from home has many ways to support your well-being. It gives back commute times, which can be spent working out, eating a healthy breakfast, or even extra time sleeping. All of these activities support your health. Moreover, being home instead of an office allows more freedom for employees to take charge of their physical health during the workday.

Champion Mental Health

Providing mental health benefits is becoming more popular for companies. In addition to traditional health benefits, mental health care is becoming a priority for younger job seekers. Supporting mental health should be a comprehensive plan that includes both benefits and positive cultural efforts to promote mentally healthy employees.

Mental health apps with guided meditation can be a great starting point for mental wellness. Additionally, providing an insurance business plan that covers therapy is a benefit that could set your company apart from those with more traditional health plans.

Defining a company culture isn’t always the easiest thing, but taking steps to make sure yours considers mental health is essential. Talking about burnout and overworking is a practice to adopt in manager 1-on-1 and even group meetings. Additionally, making sure employees know the resources they have access to helps them to be utilized to the fullest and promotes an environment that talks about mental health.

Provide Recognition

Recognizing your employees is essential for morale. By acknowledging success, you create a workplace culture where people feel valued. Not only does this encourage productivity and other workplace benefits, but it can also help promote a healthy mental state for your team members. Conversations around mental health rising (for good reason!) and working in a healthy environment where your contributions feel valuable are great for staving off burnout and motivating employees.

Reinvent Your Hours

Business leaders across the globe are testing out alternative structures to working nine to five. Ideas like a four-day workweek or a six-hour workday could lead to an increase in productivity from the traditional 40-hour workweek. While it may seem counterintuitive, this time spent not working might let people get more done, as they’re less burnt out, and have to focus their time more on work.

What works best for your workforce might be different from other companies. Taking a poll and talking to the people you work with could lend insight into what would be more supportive for your company. Moreover, giving them a say in this type of a decision, instead of telling them what’s best for them, can make them feel more invested in company operations and more motivated in their work.

Also Read: Dealing With Mental Health In The Workplace

Support Parents

While these benefits won’t affect all your employees, having systems in place to support team members who can have the hardest time finding work-life balance won’t go unnoticed. While the U.S. doesn’t have mandated parental leave policies, providing time off for new parents not only improves their wellness but can also break down workplace inequality, as families won’t have to choose between working or taking care of their children.

There are other benefits that can support parents, such as flexible working hours, in-office spaces for nursing mothers, onsite daycare, or even childcare stipends. Not only will these benefits make your workplace more attractive, but they also support the well-being of people who are already dealing with sleepless nights and all the challenges (and fun!) of being new parents.

Wrap-Up

Some companies will throw a few random benefits to their employees because they heard “Happy, taken care of employees are more productive.” While that is true, it takes a reductionist view on the approach to wellness in the workplace. The benefits your organization will gain by promoting employee wellness reach beyond just productivity. You’ll have a happier, more welcoming workplace for all employees, and your wellness might just improve, too!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Why is wellness important in the workplace?

Ans. Wellness in the workplace is important, as it ensures that employees are healthier, happier, and more productive.

Q2. What are the 5 components of wellness?

Ans. The 5 components of wellness are: physical, emotional, spiritual, social, and intellectual.

Q3. What do you mean by employee wellness?

Ans. Employee wellness refers to the overall mental, the physical, emotional, and economic health of your employees. Employee wellness is important for them to be more efficient and productive at the work they do.

A Newbie HR’s Guide To Great Performance Review! [Infographic]

Performance review may seem like a pain, but they are important for organizational growth. When structured thoughtfully, it allows employees to receive feedback from their team lead or manager regarding their performance and suggestions on areas to improve. However, there are different types of performance reviews that can be used to rate the employees. It is important to understand which type of review will be suitable for your organization.

Continue reading “A Newbie HR’s Guide To Great Performance Review! [Infographic]”

You Received Negative Performance Review, What Next?

While giving negative feedback can be really hard for managers, it isn’t any easier for the employees to receive it and instantly be motivated to improve their performance.

A negative performance review can be tough to accept and may sometimes demotivate you, but it is important to bounce back and drive yourself to the next level of success. Knowing that you failed at your job can be upsetting; especially when you are more used to appreciation than criticism.

Continue reading “You Received Negative Performance Review, What Next?”

Why Are Exit Interviews Important?

One of your best employees requests you for a one-on-one meeting and says, “Hey Charlie, I wanted to talk to you about something very important. I have been thinking of quitting my job here lately. So I’d like to give notice that my last day will be __ ”. Once you get over the unexpected shock, what’s the next step? No, we are not talking about recruiting new talent.

Continue reading “Why Are Exit Interviews Important?”

Do You Think Teamwork Is Overrated?

I’m sure at least 90% of the working population has at one point or the other mentioned ‘teamwork’ as a valuable skill on their resume. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Continue reading “Do You Think Teamwork Is Overrated?”

How To Make Your Workplace Disability-Friendly ?

As an employer, it is your primary responsibility to ensure that employees feel comfortable in the workplace. And that includes all employees, be they abled or disabled. Unfortunately, many organizations around the world are not disability-friendly. This is usually not intentional rather it is an unconscious bias that most of us experience. (An intentional bias against people who are disabled is a completely different problem, which we won’t get into right now.)

Continue reading “How To Make Your Workplace Disability-Friendly ?”

Rating-Based Performance Reviews Don’t Measure Performance Accurately

On paper, it is easy to see why rating-based performance reviews are popular. They are easy to do, quick, and fairly painless. Automated rating-based performance reviews further simplify the whole process.

Continue reading “Rating-Based Performance Reviews Don’t Measure Performance Accurately”

Traditional vs. Progressive Performance Management (Infographic)

What’s the difference between traditional and progressive performance management?

Continue reading “Traditional vs. Progressive Performance Management (Infographic)”

<img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-48827" src="https://engagedly.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/HR-Tasks-Automation.png" alt="HR Tasks Automation" width="700" height="400" />

Also Read: 9 Progressive HR Approaches From HR Professionals

What is HR automation?

The Benefits of HR Automation

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-48832" src="https://engagedly.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Benefits-of-HR-Automation-Infografic.png" alt="Benefits of HR Automation Infographic" width="614" height="1200" />

Also Read: Benefits Of Having HR Management Software In Organization

7 HR Tasks That Can Be Automated in a Blink of an Eye!

Recruiting:

Onboarding:

Benefits administration:

Performance management:

Time and attendance tracking:

Payroll processing:

Offboarding:

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-48834" src="https://engagedly.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Employee-Offboarding-HR-Tasks-Automation.png" alt="Employee Offboarding - HR Tasks Automation" width="700" height="400" />

Also Read: Your Comprehensive Guide to 360 Degree Feedback in the Modern Workplace

Engagedly is your Trusted HR Automation Partner, Here’s Why?

Comprehensive HR Solutions:

User-Friendly Interface:

Customizability:

Continuous Feedback:

Analytics and Reporting:

Integrations:

Outstanding Support:

Also Read: Performance Management Tools And Techniques Every HR Leader Needs

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the 6 Effective Coaching Strategies:

Also Read: Develop New Leadership Roles With Coaching and Mentoring

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-48374" src="https://engagedly.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Effective-Coaching-Strategies-Engagedly-Mentoring-Complete.png" alt="Effective Coaching Strategies Engagedly Mentoring Complete" width="700" height="400" />

Continuously improve your coaching skills

Identify areas where performance needs improvement

Also Read: How To Improve Your Team’s Performance: Top 6 Tips

Collaborate with your team members

Combine different coaching methods

Also Read: Types of Mentoring Programs in a Workplace

Collect feedback to customize your coaching

Establish performance set points

Also Read: Does Your Organization Need Coaching or Mentoring?

Conclusion

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is coaching?

Q2. What is an effective coaching strategy?

Q3. Why do we need an effective coaching strategy?

What is a Task Management System?

Who’s it for?

Also read: 4 Leadership Skills to Improve in a Hybrid Work Environment

Why do you need to manage tasks?

Ensures you complete all high-priority tasks

Increases productivity

Helps you meet deadlines

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-48334 size-full" src="https://engagedly.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Meet-deadlines.png" alt="Task management" width="451" height="301" />

How to manage tasks?

Create a to-do list

Try a Kanban board tool

Get a task management tool

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-48336 size-full" src="https://engagedly.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Task-Management-Tool-.png" alt="Task Management Tool" width="451" height="300" />

Also read: 10 HR Technology Trends In 2023: Expanding AI, Digitization, and Elevating Hybrid Workplaces

Why do you need a task management tool?

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-48337 size-full" src="https://engagedly.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Monitor-Progress.png" alt="Task management system" width="451" height="321" />

How to choose the right task management software?

Maintain efficiency with task management

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What are the benefits of a task management system?

About Engagedly

Also Read: How important is feedback in today’s world

Prioritize Flexible Work Policies

Automate Repetitive HR Functions

Also Read: Why do you need a Real Time Performance Management Software

Offer Minority Groups More Support

Keep Benefits Competitive

Also Read: Employee Rewards and Recognition for an engaged workforce

Think About CYA Squared

Continue Leveraging Social Media

Make Data-Driven HR Decisions

Conduct “Stay” Interviews

Also Read: 6 step guide to conduct effective stay interviews

Cross-Train Team Members

Also Read: Hello from Marissa AI- Your AI Enablement Coach

Importance of Staffing and Employment Trends

Also Read: A Complete Overview of Talent Management in a Changing Global Workspace