Srikant Chellappa is the Co-Founder and CEO at Engagedly and is a passionate entrepreneur and people leader. He is an author, producer/director of 6 feature films, a music album with his band Manchester Underground, and is the host of The People Strategy Leaders Podcast.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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 ameeting 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Want to know how Engagedly can help you improve manager coaching and manage your employees better? Request a live demo from our experts!
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, asemployees 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 risecan change the perception of your workplace and keep employees feeling their best.
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 andfocus on your personal lifeis 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
Conducting a good performance evaluation is a skill, that you need to develop if you want to have the most productive employee evaluation sessions. If you ask the wrong questions, at best, your employee evaluations will waste time, and at worst, it could actively offend your employees and be interpreted as a personal attack; you don’t want either of these two things happening to you. If you are someone who struggles to ask good performance evaluation questions, don’t worry about it. We’ll guide you on how to write the best performance review questions to make your employee evaluation sessions effective.
Why do you need to ask better performance evaluation questions?
Asking better questions benefits both you and your employees. When you ask insightful questions that balance your employee’s positive and negative aspects, they become more motivated. If you fail to ask constructive and meaningful questions, your employees could experience demotivation and deteriorating workplace relationships.
When you ask the right questions, you frame the entire evaluation session in a productive manner. People react positively to constructive feedback because it encourages them to focus on improvement. Good questions bring out the best in your employees.
Asking specific questions allows you to delve deeply into your employee’s problems and understand how they develop. So, develop an effective and intelligent line of questioning to understand your employees’ challenges.
Naturally, the right way to work on your employee evaluation question skills is to think about what type of questions you need to ask.
How to Structure Performance Review Questions?
A good employee evaluation should be structured logically. You need to ask questions in a logical and rational flow that involves asking relevant questions one after another. For example, you could ask your employee about their performance regarding a specific task, and then follow up by asking whether there was any better way to do it, and then you could ask how that employee could improve their performance in that task.
In this article, we will discuss some tips on how to structure the review questions and also share some sample evaluation questions for employees to get the most out of them.
Tips To Structure Performance Review Questions
Use the following tips on structuring employee evaluation questions for the next review cycle.
1. Gauge Overall Performance
The best way to start an employee appraisal session is to gauge your employee’s overall performance. Doing so will provide you with a useful overall perspective of your employee. It will help you to delve into individual issues and performance aspects. Your goal at this step is to develop the most accurate overall perspective of the employee’s performance.
You can achieve this overall picture by asking relevant objective questions such as “What motivates you to do your job?”, or “Do you feel satisfied with your overall performance in your job?”. These questions help deepen your understanding of where your employees think they stand. Remember that your employees’ answers are just their perspective, so try to balance their perceptions with objective employee performance data.
One thing you don’t want to do is to ask vague or intimidating questions like “How would you rate your performance out of 10?”. These questions only add to your employee’s anxiety, and it would frame the session in a hostile way. This part of the session should conclude with you developing an accurate overall idea of your employee’s profile.
2. Employee Strengths
Research by Gallup highlights that employees who received feedback on their strengths had 14.9% lower turnover rates than those who received no feedback.
The second phase should be to focus on your employee’s strengths. The benefits of approaching things positively is that it uplifts your employee’s morale. Another benefit of starting positively is that it will make addressing their problems later on easier.
In this stage, ask your employee performance evaluation questions like “What personal strengths do you think help you the most with your job?”, or “What do you feel makes you a good employee?”. When you phrase questions positively, your employees will also see them in a better light. You will come across as a caring and concerned manager. These questions also offer your employees the opportunity to share their opinions or concerns with you.
One of your goals is to better understand the mindset of your employees in terms of their strengths. What you want is to really pinpoint exactly those things that your employees believe they do best and evaluate how accurate their assessments of their own skills are. This part of the session should conclude with you being able to list perceived strengths and abilities of your employees. Remember to also balance the information your employee gives you with objective employee performance data for a more objective overall analysis.
3. Identifying Areas of Improvement
Once you’ve figured out what your employees feel they do best, it’s time to focus on what they do worst. Every employee, no matter how skilled or experienced, will always have areas that need improvement. Sometimes, your employees will recognize it, but other times, you’ll have to guide them.
Start this segment by asking your employees about their opinion on their weakest areas, but don’t phrase the questions in a hostile manner. Ask something like “What do you want to focus on improving the most?”. Avoid asking anything like “What’s your biggest problem?”. Phrasing your question in a positive way makes it easiest to discuss your employee’s problems, which is a naturally controversial topic.
It’s important to handle this session with the utmost care because employees can very easily interpret questions about their problems as being hostile. No one enjoys receiving value judgments about themselves, so it’s important to provide that information carefully. You do not want your employees to feel insecure.
When done properly, your employees will walk away from the improvement section with a renewed sense of purpose and increased determination.
Once you and your employee have understood your employee’s problems and strengths, it’s time to focus on your employee’s current role. For this section, your goal is to develop a concrete perception of your employee’s tasks and clarify anything they don’t misunderstand.
The relevant employee evaluation questions you need to ask are “ What is your number one goal in your current position?”, and “What tasks do you enjoy completing the most?”. These questions will clarify your employees’ understanding of their position. During this part of the session, you should be especially diligent to note down any specific misconceptions that your employees have.
You should then focus on correcting those misconceptions. Employees need to understand what their purpose is in the organization. By offering this clarification, not only will your employees do their jobs better, it’ll also improve morale by hinting about future advancements. This section will have been successful if it concludes with both you and your employee having a shared definition of their role in the company.
5. Providing Future Outlook
After giving your employee’s a better understanding of their position today, it’s time to raise their expectations by giving them a glimpse of tomorrow. In this section of the performance review, it’s time to demystify your employee’s future in your company, what they can and can’t achieve, as well what skills they need to do it.
Ask performance evaluation questions like “What position do you want to achieve in the future?”, and “What are your most important goals for the next quarter?”. These questions will allow you to gauge your employee’s level of future planning and assist them in working towards those goals. Your priority when asking these questions is to fully understand what your employees want in the future and to guide them on how they can get it.
After your employees answer your questions, you need to steer the conversation in terms of what they could realistically achieve in a given timeframe, and how. You need to inform them of all the skills, experiences, and achievements they need to fulfill their ambitions. Doing so will motivate your employees because they’ll have a better perspective on what to do. The goal of this session is to give an optimistic picture to your employees about their future.
6. Manager-Employee Relationship
Now that you know what your employees think about themselves, what their goals are, and you’ve given them guidance on how to achieve those goals, it’s time to focus on their relationship with you. An employee could be the most ambitious and talented individual in the world, but if they view their direct superior, you, as a roadblock to their ambitions, your workplace relationship will deteriorate. The goal of this portion of the session is to investigate your employee’s opinion of you and give them hope their concerns will be addressed.
You need to ask performance appraisal questions like “What can I do to make work better for you?” and “How do you feel about working under my leadership?”. These questions will provide your employees with the freedom of expression to convey their concerns to you in a calm and rational manner.
The most important part of this process is to not force your employees to reveal information they don’t want to. Instead, your employees should feel that this is a friendly invitation to offer constructive criticism to correct any management problems they face. You need to reassure your employee that their concerns will be addressed. You’ll know you’re successful if your employee walks away from this section feeling their problems are about to be fixed.
Questions to ask in Performance Reviews (Sample)
Performance Review Questions: Overall Performance
What all accomplishments are you proud of in this year?
State some of the factors that motivated you to achieve your goals.
What all goals were to able to achieve?
What goals did you fall short of?
What all factors kept you going to achieve your goals?
What work setup do you think is the most productive for you?
Performance Review Questions: Employee Strengths
What personal and professional skills do you think are important for you to achieve your goals?
What job competencies do you possess?
What kind of job role defines you?
What are some specific tasks or projects where you feel you excel?
What do you believe are your top three strengths as an employee?
Can you give an example of how you have used your creativity or problem-solving skills to benefit the organization?
Performance Review Questions: Improvement Areas
What according to you are your areas of improvement?
Are there any deliverables in which you could have done better?
What are your focus areas for the next quarter?
How can the management support you in doing better in your job?
erformance Review Questions: Current Role
Are there any parts of your current job role that you do not like?
What responsibilities do you like in your current role?
How does your role add value to the organization?
Performance Review Questions: Future Outlook
What does your ideal future profile look like?
What personal skills do you plan to build for the next 3 to 4 quarters?
Do you think you have the right resources to build your desired future profile?
What role would you like to take in the next 2 to 3 years?
What are your long-term career goals and how do you see your current role fitting into those goals?
How do you see your skills or job responsibilities evolving in the next year?
How do you envision your role and responsibilities changing in the next year, and what do you see as potential challenges or opportunities?
The performance review session concludes after the previous set of employee evaluation questions. You’ll know that the performance review session was a success if, after completion, your employees have a better understanding of their position, their strengths, weaknesses, ambitions, limitations, and problems. The session should provide your employees with a renewed sense of purpose and motivation, invigorating them to work better the next quarter. As long as your questions are direct, objective, clear, and insightful, meaning you ask the best performance review questions, your session will be a great success.
Mobile learning has revolutionized employee training. It brought in more streamlined and valuable lessons.
Employers found it difficult to provide training to employees. Sure, a fraction of the problem may be on the employees — they may be hard to handle — but a big part of the problem might be ineffective training methods.
If you provide limited resources and zero exposure to reskilling or upskilling opportunities, your employees may be struggling. Consequently, you could see a dramatic decrease in engagement, memory retention rates, productivity levels, and more.
Want to improve things?
Explore mobile learning and mobile learning ideas. In this article, we’ll cover the best ways to create a mobile-based learning environment that will improve employee performance.
Use a Mobile Learning Platform
A mobile learning platform is any tool that gives learners access to educational resources from mobile devices, offering incomparable convenience. Through mobile learning, employees can access your training portal whenever and wherever.
Like any LMS or Learning Management System, a mobile learning platform also enhances learning.
Here are tips on making the most of using a mobile learning platform:
Make it effortless to get started – Design an easy-to-use learning portal. If your employees feel mentally challenged when they use it for the first time, they’re less likely to attend the training sessions.
Choose a platform with LMS features – Use platforms like Engagedly to invest in employee development. The tool’s LMS features allow you to track learning and import reporting and analytics. And because it’s mobile-enabled, you can use it to conveniently access your training goals and OKRs or Objectives and Key Results.
Create section breaks – Design your training system in a digestible format. And if possible, include media that will aid learning. For example, feature visual information or infographics every five chapters.
Provide Easily Accessible and Engaging Learning Modules
Distribute training materials your employees can pick up from the get-go — it’s one of the most successful learning and development strategies. Not only does it allow them to apply lessons in real life, but it also accelerates their professional growth and development.
Also, leverage this fact: engaging modules are synonymous with microlearning (learning in small units and short-term learning activities). Almost everyone can learn fast if engaged with easy-to-understand modules.
Here are the best practices for creating modules:
Use images and video training apps – Appeal to your employees visually. And address the fact that attention spans are getting shorter as time goes on. Your employees will have higher chances of understanding lessons if you feature entertainment and immersive experiences.
Ask questions to employees– Talk to them individually to determine their learning goals. Ask them for suggestions, too. Then, use their answers as the basis for creating a learning system and ensure that this system resonates with their needs and wants.
Apply spaced repetition – Create quizzes and deliver them at regular intervals. Then, incorporate the lessons from one chapter into the following chapters. The idea is to help them retain core knowledge and boost long-term memory skills.
Gamify Learning
Gamification is when you apply point scoring, competitions, and other typical elements of a gaming environment to learning. Gamifying the workplace allows you to create a fun working environment where everybody thrives and pushes each other to the limit.
Engagedly has extraordinary gamification features. It features a system logo, custom badges, intuitive scoring, and a gift card catalog. These are real-time features, too.
Here are the best practices of gamification:
Set up a leaderboard system – Present a visual representation of competition and allow social comparison. It lets employees monitor their progress concerning other players. It also encourages them to unleash their competitive spirits and strive to do better.
Award badges to high-performing employees – Give credit where credit is due and congratulate employees every time they perform well. Receiving badges motivates them to continue with their laudable performance. It also inspires their fellows to do great work.
Use storytelling – Give employees a reason to interact with your content. Start by creating relevant and engaging context, then flesh out storylines, ideas, and conversations. If you want to entice them some more, embed relatable stories into the context.
Launch a Mentorship Program
In a mentorship program, you pair senior employees with junior employees. In this arrangement, juniors can ask questions and get advice from their more seasoned peers. They can gather information about their tasks and responsibilities, and maybe hear some words of wisdom.
A mentorship program complements mobile learning. Instead of leaving employees to take in learning from their mobile devices, they get in-person advice from the people with experience — the seniors who already know how to do what’s being taught in the educational videos and other things that an LMS cannot teach.
Here are ways to launch an effective mentorship program:
Attract participants – Introduce the mentorship program and emphasize its benefits. Then, encourage employees to join of their own volition. Instead of making the mentorship program mandatory, make it available to those who want to join.
Guide mentors and mentees – Create a straightforward plan to direct the mentors and mentees toward your training system’s goals. This will prevent them from losing focus and motivation, improving the odds that they will thrive.
Choose tools with a mentoring platform feature – Engagedly’s The Enable Development Pillar offers a mentoring platform feature. It includes employee surveys, recognition and rewards, and effortless remote work collaboration. As a result, employee communication and collaboration are more effective.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) learning is a common strategy for teaching at-risk students and in the business world, P2P learning happens when one employee teaches another employee. Its benefits include improved interpersonal and communication skills, enhanced openness, and versatility.
In a way, you can say it’s like a mentorship program. But, P2P learning differs because it offers a less intimidating atmosphere. It’s where employees can learn together as equals, in a less formal setting. And it could be a better way to understand the topics discussed in mobile learning.
Here are the ways to encourage P2P learning:
Sharpen tutoring skills – Tell employees about non-directive and directive tutoring. Inform them of the best teaching strategies in specific circumstances. For example, they need to discern when is the right time to fill in knowledge gaps from the right time to correct another employee.
Encourage peer feedback – Make it a two-way system. Employees can learn better if they know how to give feedback and take feedback.
Teach RPT – Stick to RPT or Reciprocal Peer Tutoring rules and pair mixed-ability employees. For instance, let junior students team up with senior employees. Then, let them take turns being the tutor and tutee.
Conclusion
Make a regular habit out of training your employees. Conduct a training program at least every year. Then, you can apply the ideas mentioned above as you incorporate the latest training strategies.
Especially if you want them to stay with you for the long haul, give them the confidence of knowing they can count on your support.
If they know they can depend on you to help them, you can count on them to perform their best.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is mobile learning?
Ans. Mobile learning or M-learning is a method of learning using personal mobile devices such as mobiles and laptops. This method has been gaining much popularity in recent times as students can access learning materials anywhere and at any time on any mobile device.
Q2. What are some examples of mobile learning apps?
Ans. Some examples of mobile learning apps are:
Udemy
Quizlet
Duolingo
SoloLearn
TED-ed
Q3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of mobile learning?
Ans. Some of the advantages of mobile learning include:
Cost-effective
Higher efficiency
Engaging
Easily accessible
Improves employee retention
Some of the disadvantages of this learning method include:
Lack of mobile technology or internet connection
Distraction from work due to the use of mobile devices
This article is written by Christopher Jan Benitez.
Christopher Jan Benitez is a freelance writer for hire who specializes in the digital marketing field. His work has been published on SEO and affiliate marketing-specific niches like Monitor Backlinks, Niche Pursuits, Nichehacks, Web Hosting Secret Revealed, and others.
Undoubtedly, a business’s success depends upon employee engagement and performance. The latest employee engagement stats reveal that 18% of “very engaged” employees remain with their current employers for extended periods.
But the question is, how can you engage employees? Importantly, how can you engage employees from afar in remote or hybrid workplaces?
Well, the answer is inclusive leadership. It is a collaborative and problem-solving leadership style that focuses on individual employees’ needs.
Wondering how inclusive leadership can boost employee engagement and performance? Then, walk through this guide to learn about inclusive leadership and how to use it to engage your employees.
What is Inclusive Leadership?
Inclusive leadership is a progressive leadership style in which leaders coordinate and communicate with their team members to make decisions and solve business problems. Inclusive leaders use their entire team’s knowledge and experience to make decisions for their business. These leaders are confident and competent, but they are not egoistic.
When leaders include their team in the decision-making process, it helps to improve engagement and retention rates in the organization. Employees will feel like their opinions matter to their leaders. This will motivate them to provide better suggestions and ideas to gain their leaders’ respect.
An inclusive leader is someone who has the following traits:
Humble and Modest. Inclusive leaders are modest human beings. No matter how skilled or knowledgeable they are, they never abuse or show off their achievements. On the contrary, they are always interested in other people’s opinions and take suggestions from everyone on the team.
Good Communicators. These leaders are masters of receiving and giving feedback. They provide real-time feedback to their team members and use dual communication channels to always stay in touch with their team.
Adaptive and Innovative. Inclusive leaders use innovative and technical solutions to improve employee engagement and performance. For example, they use 360-degree feedback tools to conduct employee engagement surveys to create a positive company culture.
Result-driven. Inclusive leaders are focused on company goals. They don’t hesitate to take risks or go beyond their limits to achieve desired results. They are dedicated and focused on bringing maximum value to their organization.
Inclusive leadership is not an option for modern business organizations. However, it is an essential employee engagement tool to bring efficiency and high performance to your team. According to a Deloitte report:
17% of teams with inclusive leadership are high performing
20% stated they make more effective decisions
29% reported collaborative behavior
10% seen reduction in absenteeism due to inclusiveness
Excited to execute an inclusive leadership style in your company? If so, follow these steps to implement inclusive leadership that helps to boost employee engagement and performance:
1. Innovative work approach
Inclusive leaders thrive on innovation. They don’t hesitate to use new technologies or creative methods to interact with their team members.
These leaders are always looking for an opportunity to build an honest and trustworthy relationship with their team members.
Therefore, inclusive leaders use different approaches to create a transparent employee engagement environment, like:
Reward and recognition. Leaders create an environment where employees can thrive. They set up a reward and recognition policy to acknowledge the hard work of their team members. This helps to motivate team members to work even harder to achieve company goals.
Learning and development. Inclusive leaders work to improve their employees’ skills and performance. They provide learning and development opportunities for their team. In fact, they give employees time to learn new skills and attend workshops.
Use automation. Innovative leaders are ready to automate their operations. They use advanced technology to track employees’ performance and efficiency to provide them with real-time statistics and feedback.
2. Brings diversity to the leadership
Employees who feel more connected with senior leadership will show more productivity and efficiency. Therefore, to set up inclusive leadership, you should bring diversity to your leadership style.
You need to appoint a relatable leader. Employees will likely feel more positive about a leader with whom they share something. It could be gender, caste, or disability. Employees who relate to leaders will accept them faster and follow their instructions better.
Therefore, the best strategy to appoint an inclusive leader is within your team. You should practice a democratic election and elect a leader from your team members.
The best thing about this practice is that a leader is already familiar with team members and their character. This way, leaders can better develop relationships with them and understand their viewpoints.
3. Focus on individual employee’s needs
Every employee is different. The aspirations and needs of individual employees are unique. As per recent statistics:
70% of Americans prefer company culture and employee benefits more than salaries.
College degree holders looking for a positive company culture to apply for a new job.
Therefore, inclusive leaders have to understand individual employees’ requirements to build a progressive work environment. They can use employee engagement surveys to understand the needs of individual employees.
In addition, when leaders interact with employees, it builds relationships and trust among them. Employees can better convey their issues when they have the opportunity to interact face-to-face with leaders.
4. Build trust among team members
Apart from earning team members’ trust, inclusive leaders must improve coordination and trust among all team members. If your team is not aligned, it is impossible to include them all in the decision-making process.
Therefore, inclusive leaders have to practice trust-building activities in the organization. You should use virtual trust-building exercises to establish a collaborative work environment even if your team works remotely.
Here are some ideas to build trust among your team members:
Offer networking opportunities for team members to share their capabilities.
Celebrate and highlight employees’ success.
Accept when you are wrong.
Listen to every team member.
Host informal events like games day, weekend get-togethers, team vacations, etc.
5. Open communication
Communication is the backbone of an inclusive leadership style. Leaders need a dual communication structure where they can receive real-time feedback from team members and reciprocate it to them.
Here, employers have to work on building an open communication channel through different mediums. They should provide different forms, surveys, and centralized communication software to their team members. Or they can also use an employee handbook as it is an effective means of communication and delivering values. This way, leaders can reach out to their team members faster or vice versa.
6. Rise above the competition
Inclusive leaders should eliminate the competition prevailing within their teams. They should create a collaborative and coordinated environment where team members don’t feel jealous when their subordinates succeed. In fact, they help their team members work efficiently.
Inclusive leaders can work on all the negative feelings and team conflicts seriously. They must resolve team issues quickly so that a positive and evolving environment can be established in the workplace.
How to Build Inclusive Leadership in Your Workplace?
Now that you know inclusive leadership is helpful in boosting employee engagement and performance, the next step is to understand how to build inclusive leadership in your workplace. It is not hard to set up an inclusive leadership style. Just follow these steps to do so:
Streamline hiring process
It is always better to start from the beginning. Thus, you should streamline your hiring process and only hire employees with the qualities of inclusive leaders. This way, when choosing a leader, you can easily find great candidates in your team.
Create an employees development plan
Apart from hiring competent employees to become inclusive leaders, you can create an employee development plan to nurture inclusive leaders. If you have potential leaders in your team, work on improving their skills and leadership traits to prepare them to take on leadership roles in the future.
Have a proper plan
Every organization must have a well-structured plan for inclusive leaders. You can create a document that includes the responsibilities and duties of an inclusive leader. This way, employees can know what to expect from their leaders. Similarly, leaders can prepare themselves to follow all responsibilities.
Effective communication structure
Automation is the best way to set up an effective communication structure in your workplace. You can get centralized software that allows you to streamline the communication flow between team members and leaders.
Identify your unconscious bias
Human judgment is often clouded by personal interest, religious factors, or favoritism. Therefore, leaders must work on themselves and identify when their unconscious biases influence their leadership. Then, they can consult their senior management when their personal interests come before their honest leadership practice.
Use 360-degree feedback surveys
A 360 manager review is a valuable way to gather employee feedback on how your leaders are doing. Constructive feedback will help your leaders with both their personal and professional development. Allowing employees to give their leaders feedback through 360-degree feedback surveys is a great way to improve the overall leadership in the organization.
Inclusive leadership is what modern hybrid workplaces require. It is essential to build a transparent work environment, engage employees, and motivate them to work harder.
Inclusive leadership is based on clear communication and a plan of action. Therefore, if you want to implement an inclusive leadership style in your organization, work on developing inclusive traits among your employees.
In the workplace, goals are crucial for success. Goals keep you on the course during rough times and help you stay focused on issues that matter. Goals provide employers the benefits of helping employees stay on course, aligning employee goals with organizational goals, etc. The very process of goal-setting can be further enhanced by using goal-setting software for your business needs.
Cultural change is probably one of the major challenges that the leadership team faces. You may want to build an organizational culture that is collaborative, innovative, or aggressive. Most companies try to change their work culture directly through speeches, training, or direct intervention in meetings. None of these approaches might work.
The Motley Fool is a perfect example. According to Gartner research, volunteering can increase by more than 20% when employees get health insurance benefits. When it comes to employee benefits, The Motley Fool found that diversity is key to promoting healthy lifestyles.
Samantha “Sam” Whiteside, the company’s Chief Wellness Fool, says, “Employee wellbeing programs cover all wellness needs and go beyond physical wellbeing and traditional programs.”Employees must be treated as people with different needs which need to be met. Organizations should understand that meeting those needs adds value to the organization and strengthens it.
Why Should Work Culture Be a Priority?
The overall brand image, values, and vision and mission need to match the needs of candidates and potential customers. Organizational culture makes an impact on candidates deciding to join a new company or on clients deciding to do business with a brand.
This constant alignment is important to any profitable business, but culture is much more than that.
Five Reasons Why a Good Organizational Culture Is Crucial in Today’s World of Business
Increased employee engagement
Every worker bee dreams of a positive work environment where there opinion is valued and hard work appreciated and acknowledged. A culture driven by clear goals is what motivates and inspires employees to take ownership and be proactive. It also ends up in high levels of workforce engagement, which boosts productivity. A robust connection between an organization and its employees creates a positive atmosphere, flooded with innovation and productivity.
People who feel valued and acknowledged are less likely to leave. It is thus imperative that companies foster a successful organizational culture, supporting their core values. Happy employees mean lower attrition along with higher productivity. Companies can save both time and money spent in recruiting new people.
Improved productivity
It goes without saying that if employees feel engaged and appreciated, their performance will get a massive boost. Organizational culture influences people and brings creative, innovative minds together. People with diverse backgrounds and skills can work together harmoniously. All because of a positive work culture!
Transformational Power
Not all companies have the power to turn ordinary employees into absolute brand ambassadors. But those with strong organizational cultures do. Companies that recognize and reward their employees’ hard work are more likely to open the gateway to a positive cultural transformation.
Effective onboarding
There are a variety of job portals where people can check out employee reviews of a lot of companies. These reviews are a deciding factor for a candidate before applying for a job in the said company. Herein, organizational culture plays a huge role. Good reviews on work culture provide a massive boost to the brand image. Companies which have effective onboarding processes help new employees access the right resources and better adapt to their roles. This imbibes satisfaction and loyalty in employees.
5 Steps to Change Organizational Culture
Identify desired outcomes
Workplace culture isthe reflection of the values and behavior of employees. A clear vision communicates to your employees what you want them to do and how to behave. An organization’s core valuesshould be crystal clear.
Here’s an example of the idea of identifying a desired outcome. IKEA keeps its vision simple-a better lifestyle. Management explains this vision to employees as well as customers. At its core, the company sees the connection between IKEA and its customers as a partnership.
IKEA uses terms like ‘us’ and ‘together’ to address customers and help employees determine the impact of the company’s vision on business success.
Implement your mission statement in your work and show your employees. Set weekly goals to demonstrate core values that help employees achieve their vision and provide incentives.
Plan a culture change rollout
Employees must identify with and relate to the change. Before rolling out the cultural framework, communicate with your employees, interact with them with more transparency, and create a culture of open feedback. This will create a deeper understanding of the desired culture.
Southwest Airlines could be a high-profile example of organizational culture done right. Their core value is that employees, not customers, come first. The airline explains, happy employees will result in greater customer satisfaction—and greater company earnings. Around 10 years ago, the organization’s senior team aligned on six core cultural values. These values, which are displayed on the company’s culture page, provide guidance to employees on how to work the Southwest way.
Incorporate cultural values into hiring initiatives
One sure way to make culture change a reality is to embed it in the way you hire, promote, and reward employees. For the recruitment and onboarding process, your culture will be reflected in the way you evaluate candidates as well as the recruiting experience you provide.
Shopgate, an e-commerce app, has employees working in different parts of the world. So, they try to have a common and unilateral culture that binds them all. They prioritize transparent communication and collaboration even while evaluating candidates for recruitment. They try to onboard people who share the same passion for their products and culture that the company has.
Be patient
It is crucial for organizations to realize that changing culture is a mammoth task which takes an indefinite amount of time. After testing, piloting, evaluating, and adjusting, we arrive at the final cultural framework.
Your employees own and shape your company culture. As a leader, you can only provide a roadmap that your employees can follow to provide a better work experience.
Starbucks is a great example of a brand that understands perfectly the value that its employees bring to the company.
Each barista is trained to work in perfection and create a welcoming environment for customers. The same positive energy is reflected in their corporate culture. They support their employees by offering research grants to participate in online or university programs. Another benefit of working at Starbucks is that the Bean Stock Program allows employees to own stock in the company after a certain period of time. A manager refers to the members of their team as “partners”, rather than “employees”. This initiative promotes employee engagement and makes partners feel highly motivated and inspired.
Define the message, inside and out
While planning an internal rollout of the new culture and goals, partner with your HR team. There is likely no need for an expansive public rollout; most of these changes should be focused internally.
Blackbaud, a cloud-based software provider for the philanthropic industry, has built its corporate culture around a shared passion to give back. The company follows suit by organizing team-wide projects, providing time off for volunteers and corporate matching for charitable contributions. This program awards grants to local nonprofits in Austin, Texas. The company also hosts social events on topics they love, like the Pinewood Derbys, Harry Potter, and the weekly Star Wars movie marathon.
Steps to Ensure a Successful Cultural Transformation
First, understand the challenges and how your employees perceive the company’s cultural issues.
CEOs and executives may have an entirely different view of the cultural challenges facing their companies. To get an idea of those issues, you can:
Ask your employees
Have surveys
Lead focus groups
Hold meetings with the team leaders
Meet industry leaders
Next, the management needs to see and study what the company does. Gather the leadership team at the table and ask the following questions:
What actions should our company embody to drive the cultural change we want?
What types of new behavior are common?
What actions should be taken to eliminate any negative behavior?
Then, create a strategy. You need to focus on the strengths of your existing culture and build a new, robust culture on the old one. Next on the agenda comes goals. Begin with setting limited and achievable sets of goals. Each goal should be clear, actionable, and measurable. These goals should be oriented around:
Finally, track the progress to assess whether the transformation has been successful. Measure each part of your transformation to see where it has been successful and where it has not. Your company should focus on areas like:
Overall behavior
Business performance
Key milestones
Team’s feelings regarding the cultural change
Final Thoughts
An improperly managed structure is plagued with issues. A transformation within the environment often requires a flip within the organization.
Change is always met with some resistance, and different cultures can have different reactions. Tread carefully, well-equipped with a proper strategy before you try to bring in a change in the organizational culture.
Do you want to know how Engagedly can help you change your organizational culture and boost up employee performance? Book a live demo with us.
Businesses are struggling to keep up with their talent management practices. In the current global business environment, it is getting tougher to hire and retain top talent. With the recession weakening revenue streams and the great resignation causing employers to lose their top talent to their competitors, businesses are at a tipping point.
St. Louis, MO, Aug 22, 2022: Engagedly, a leading provider of SaaS solution for People Strategy, has been named as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States, second time in a row.
The annual Inc. 5000 list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the US economy’s most dynamic segment — independent businesses. Companies such as Dell, Pandora, GoPro, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as top 500 exclusive honorees on the Inc. 5000.
“We are thrilled to make it to the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies for the second time in a row,” says Sri Chellappa, President and Co-Founder of Engagedly. ” We will continue to focus on providing value to our clients and help them align people processes and business strategy, to help people and organizations thrive in the future of work”.
Engagedly helps organizations create effective, engaged workforces by progressive performance management, employee development and improving employee engagement for the hybrid workforce. Engagedly’s cloud platform is built to engage, motivate, develop, and drive performance. They offer an easy-to-use, integrated, and comprehensive set of features to ensure employee performance and development is effective and easy, enabling teams to stay engaged and productive.
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.
Companies on the 2022 Inc. 5000 are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2018 to 2021. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Growth rates used to determine company rankings were calculated to four decimal places. The top 500 companies on the Inc. 5000 are featured in Inc. magazine’s September issue. The entire Inc. 5000 can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000.
About Inc.
Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for todays’ innovative company builders. The total monthly audience reach for the brand has been growing significantly, from 2,000,000 in 2010 to more than 18,000,000 today. For more information, visitwww.inc.com. In 1982, the Inc. 500 was started to highlight the fastest growing companies in the US. In 2007 the list was expanded to Inc. 5000 to help everyone get a deeper understanding of the entrepreneurial landscape.
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.
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