Performance Management Archives

Guide to select the right Performance Review Software

Investing in performance review software is one of the best decisions your business could make, given how important these applications are for managing an increasingly decentralized work environment. This type of software streamlines work for managers and offers objective ways to measure employee productivity and improve overall management. There’s a huge variety of these performance tools though, and some are quite the investment, so it can be daunting to decide which one you should pick. Don’t worry, we’ll guide you through the entire process of choosing the right performance review software for you.

Step 1: Understand your needs

You need a clear perspective of what you need from performance review software in terms of HR, finance, and your specific business goals.

1. Talk to HR

Since HR is responsible for evaluating employee performance and conducting hiring decisions, they will understand your company’s performance needs best. Your organization’s HR department can inform you of what specific features you need from performance evaluation software. They could easily identify how easily such software can be integrated into your company, and whether you should expect a steep learning curve from your employees when they start using it.

Also Read: 9 Progressive HR Approaches from HR Professionals

2. Budget Constraints

Professional performance review software is an investment, often a large one, so you need to set a budget range. After having a general idea of what range you can afford to invest in, you need to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of optional features, opting for only the ones you absolutely need. Ideally, you should set your investment range according to your perceived future requirements. If you expect your company to grow massively in the near future or suspect there’s a severe problem with existing performance management, it may be worth spending more.

3. Organizational Goals

Performance management software is most effective when you already know what you want. It’s not strictly necessary to have a list of exactly everything you need, but it helps to at least have a general idea of what place the system has in your company.

For instance, if you’re a software development company, you may want your employees to develop new applications quicker, but you also don’t want to compromise on quality. In such a case, you need performance management software that doesn’t just track time but also provides a checklist of project requirements to ensure new applications are developed quicker without loss in quality.

4. Use a trial or demo version.

Sometimes the best way to see if something works is to just try it out and see what happens. Thankfully, many performance review software have trial and demo versions you can test for a short period of time to see if they fit your needs. Usually, you’ll be given access for a week, which is enough time to collect data and conduct analysis to see whether productivity has improved or not.

Using trial software is also a good idea if you’re not sure of what additional features you want to have. While testing the demo or trial version of the performance review software, you’ll quickly discover additional things you need. For example, if you’re a real estate organization, you might find that one of the most valuable additional features you need from your performance review software is being able to calculate the time spent per unit by a vendor.

5. Note the features you want

Although every company’s needs are different, there are generally a few functions every company needs, like listing goals, recording data, and exporting information. And, depending on your organization, you may have specific requirements like providing in-app feedback to employees too.

Basic features

Assignments

Effective performance review software has the capacity to assign team and individual goals for your employees, and it should be able to integrate them in a way that makes sense from an overall perspective. Objective and Key Results (OKR) can easily be used on performance review software.

Data Recording

Performance appraisal software should allow you to collect performance-related data from employees such as the number of hours logged, the amount of time taken to complete a task, etc. This raw data should be easily accessible to managers.

Export data

You should be able to export the data stored on the application to external sources for safety, analytical, or managerial reasons. There is no valid reason for not being able to do that.

Basic statistics

At least some basic statistical functions should be present, like calculating averages. These statistics offer meaningful information for managers.

Also Read: What Is A Performance Management System?

Advanced functions

These requirements may or may not apply to your specific case, but generally, the larger and more complex an organization is, their needs will also be more complex.

Goal adjustment and editability

Depending on your industry, you may have very complex tasks that you assign to employees. In that case, you need a performance review system that allows managers to collect different types of data flexibly and edit task requirements if needed.

Feedback mechanism

Being able to give feedback directly through the employee performance management application is a desirable feature for large organizations.

Real-Time Progress Updates

This feature is especially desirable for companies with large numbers of remote workers. Being able to see everything that each employee is doing at a glance helps managers better understand their employee’s conditions.

Visual Representation of Data

Some performance software lets you construct basic visual diagrams, like pie charts, bar graphs, and histograms, of employee performance. These visual aids can be useful if you want to represent information intuitively.

Compensation Integration

Being able to dispense salaries from a performance application is a useful feature if your employees frequently work overtime, and you would like to track them easily.

Step 2: Consider Technical Aspects

Even if you find a performance review system that aligns with your goals perfectly, you still need to make sure it can be integrated into your existing work systems optimally.

1. Compatibility with existing systems

Larger organizations typically already have databases and systems to record employee performance. If you already have such a setup, make sure you can easily export the existing data to the new software. Also, make sure your current It setup will easily allow you to run the software.

You could start assessing your needs by consulting your IT department about the best way to introduce the performance evaluation software to your organization. Most performance management applications, especially high-end ones, are designed to be compatible with most systems, but you should still check regardless.

2. Employee adaptation

Transitioning to a new software might initially be difficult for your employees if they’re not technically literate. You might experience disruption caused by the adjustment period, that’s normal, but it should not be a prolonged problem. It should not take your organization more than a week to adjust to the new system.

This is why trial periods are crucial. During the trial period of a performance review application, take note of how quickly your employees adjust to the new system. If they take too long, it’s evidence that the specific application isn’t right for you.

3. UI – UX or Interface design

A good performance management application should be easy to use with a friendly, clear, and intuitive user interface (UI). Ideally, your staff should experience minimal confusion while using the application. A good UI will ensure the software performs optimally.

Conversely, a bad UI will lead to disruptions. Employees may find it difficult to use and will make mistakes, skewing the accuracy of the data recorded. Bad UI also indicates the company that developed the software lacks professionalism.

4. Hosting

It’s important to pay attention to whether your performance evaluation software can be hosted locally or on the cloud. Ideally, a performance management application should be hosted on a cloud-dedicated server to maximize safety. This type of infrastructure tends to be the most stable, and you should try to get applications that only run on the cloud.

Step 3: Consider long-term viability

Performance management software is a long-term investment, so you should make sure the application you choose benefits you long-term.

1. Customer Support

Inevitably, you will run into problems with any performance management software you use. When these problems arise, you want to ensure the company you’ve hired has a good customer support system. It will help you quickly diagnose your issues and provide effective support. It would be a good idea to check the customer support reviews of different performance review applications. Steer clear of applications with generally bad customer support reviews since it indicates a lack of professionalism.

2. Scalability and flexibility

Your organization’s needs will change over time as it grows, expands, and encounters new challenges. The performance review software should, ideally, be able to adapt to the changing needs. Your requirements with 100 employees will vastly differ from those with 10. So make sure that any software you choose to invest in has the potential to be scaled up to the changing needs. The best options will allow you to change nearly everything about the application long-term.

3. Longevity

Compatibility with new systems is an important requirement. Ideally, the software you invest in today should be fully compatible with various systems for the next 5 to 10 years at least. You should consult with your application provider about how long they intend to offer IT support, including how frequently they intend to release updates. The best performance systems will have guaranteed long-term support for their systems and a dedicated team.

Conclusion

Employee performance management software is a great investment, but like any other purchase, you have to make sure you do it right. You need to choose the software that fulfills your specific requirements best, is the easiest to use, has the most number of desired features, and fits in your budget.

How to Set and Reach Department Goals?

A departmental goal inspires teamwork towards a shared mission and vision, clarifying its purpose and how it aligns with the company’s objectives. It promotes collaboration and supports overall organizational success. Are you confused about how to set department goals? Or is it that you have set goals but do not know how to go about reaching those goals? It is common to set a goal and forget about it until reminded during performance reviews. Working toward a deadline can make it challenging to achieve one’s full potential.

Research says 92% of people cannot achieve the goals they set. Though the setting is just the initial step, it is crucial.

Per surveys, visualizing goals can make one more confident in achieving them. You forget them until the day of the reviews and again set the goal for the next cycle, thus getting stuck in a loop.

If goals are forgotten or not achieved, it can result in failure and stagnation in development, which can have a negative impact on the entire company. This can lead to a lack of interest in the department and a reluctance to set and achieve goals creatively. To avoid this, it’s essential to set reasonable goals that can result in better employee performance reviews and ultimately contribute to the success of the organization. This can lead to increased job satisfaction, higher employee engagement, and improved retention rates.

How to Prepare for Department Goals?

Setting goals is not enough; one needs to track their progress in achieving them at frequent intervals. When setting reasonable goals, it’s important to consider the necessary resources to achieve them within the given deadline. Any previous failures in meeting department goals should be taken as examples, and efforts should be made to make them effective and achievable in the next attempt. Goals serve as useful tools to make informed decisions, prioritize efforts, and ultimately achieve the company’s mission.

How to Set SMART Goals?

SMART goals are ones that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. Now, how to do it right with efficient use of resources and time? Let us find out.

Specific: Your goal should be clear and specific. Avoid vague goals like “improve performance” and instead aim for something like “increase sales by 10%.”
Measurable: Make sure your goal is measurable so you can track your progress and stay motivated. Use numbers, percentages, or other metrics to make your goal tangible.
Achievable: Your goal should be realistic and achievable given your resources and timeline. Set a goal that challenges you, but don’t aim for the impossible.
Relevant: Your goal should be relevant to your overall objectives and priorities. Don’t waste time on goals that don’t align with your bigger picture.
Time-bound: Set a deadline for achieving your goal. This will help keep you on track and provide a sense of urgency.
Break it down: Break your goal down into smaller, manageable steps. This will make it less daunting and easier to tackle.
Get specific: Determine the specific actions you need to take to achieve your goal. This will help you stay focused and make progress.
Write it down: Write your goal down and keep it somewhere visible. This will serve as a constant reminder and help you stay accountable.
Share it: Share your goal with someone you trust. This will provide support and accountability.
Celebrate: Celebrate your progress along the way and don’t forget to reward yourself when you achieve your goal. Positive reinforcement can help you stay motivated and on track.

Also Read: How to Implement SMART Employee Goal Setting in Your Company

Strategies to Define SMART Business Goals

Now that you have a clear idea of setting smart business goals, know the strategies to establish them right. Create objectives that focus on critical business areas. Analyze the opportunities well, identify the goals that can be challenging, and align with the business goals. One of the effective methods for setting department goals that are smart is:

SWOT Analysis

Conducting a SWOT analysis is an excellent way to analyze business performance and work on the area of improvement effectively. SWOT stands for:

Strength: Identify the areas where the business performs well. Identify the components and assets that are strong and can help to get an edge over the competitors.
Weakness: Analyze deeply to understand what’s not working for the business. Look for the components that tend to decrease the value.
Opportunity: Examine the external opportunities that can be helpful for the business. Look for business growth and the market change you want to focus on.
Threat: What are the external factors that can threaten the business? Are there any troubles that can impact business operations? As consumer demand changes, a business may face new challenges and threats from competitors.

Set and Achieve Goals per the Department

There’s nothing better than planning over-achievable goals that equal your business success. Setting objectives demands focusing on what a business needs to tackle in the current year.

The main thing lies in picking the goals that hit realistically and help drive the business to the next level, even in economically challenging situations.

Ensure the following to set achievable department goals:

- The goals should align with company objectives
- List the goals per employee and department to set the priorities
- Use KPIs that can boost the accountability of the goals

Invite the employees to set their goals so that you can review them together during their performance reviews

Break big goals into smaller ones to bring consistency

Set SMART goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, time-based, and set in real-time

Foster a healthy dynamic in every department

Identify the workers falling short and help them achieve success in the future

90% of studies show specific and challenging goals can trigger better performance than easy or try-your-best goals. It requires motivation and persistence to achieve positive goals compared to vague ones.

Also Read: 7 Steps to Setting Workplace Goals and Making Them Happen

1. HR Department Goals

If you are in an HR department, you must know how hard it is to set goals that align with workforce trends, budgets, and others. Check the means available and set short-term goals to achieve. The goals of the HR department should set an example for other departments, which may find it challenging to set goals. You can also check performance reviews to set the right goals for this department.

Some HR goals are:

Speeding up the hiring process using the latest tools
Increasing the current employee retention rate to reduce employee turnover
Trying to increase the number of upskilled employees by 20% in the coming months

2. Marketing Department Goals

The marketing department’s goals are to increase company leads, boost brand awareness, and try unique and innovative things to launch a new product. Marketing has many facets, from technical to creative, in setting goals. It is often challenging to set goals for a creative department. A few samples of goals that can be set for the marketing department are:

The marketing department should set goals to drive website traffic by almost 50% with quality blogs
Redesigning landing pages can earn more click-through rates for the website
There should be an increase in the sales funnel and more use of targeted email to reach the potential group of customers

3. Sales Department Goals

Setting clear and measurable goals is essential for the success of any sales department. The goals should be tailored to the size of the department, the products or services being sold, and the most effective ways to generate leads.

For example, a sales department might set a goal to increase monthly revenue by 15% by implementing strategies such as cross-selling and customizing sales, as well as learning more about the products to better serve customers.

Another goal could be to limit the number of deals per unit over the next few months, which could help focus efforts on more profitable sales.

It’s important to consider the strengths and weaknesses of individual team members when setting goals and to ensure that everyone is motivated and working together toward a common goal. By encouraging healthy competition and collaboration, sales departments can achieve both individual and team success.

Key Points to Note Before Setting Department Goals

Setting Achievable Goals for Work-Life Balance

Incorporating workplace goals into daily activities can be a challenging task. It’s important to set clear and specific goals, prioritize tasks, and allocate time to turn goals into achievable actions. This can help maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Get Clarity on the Team Structure

Understand the capabilities and interrelationships of your team before setting work goals. Identify the support that can be provided to measure goals and process them to run projects smoothly.

Focus on Coordination Among the Team

For every goal, there are things that are in your control; you have to plan for the rest. It is the skill and collaboration of a department that will help in achieving goals. Better coordination can prevent the team from missing deadlines. This is how you can set smart business goals.

Consider the Big Picture

Efficiency and productivity in the workplace are crucial for career progression and success in the long term. It’s important to focus not only on immediate tasks but also on gaining valuable experience and skills that can be applied to future opportunities.

Also Read: How to Set the Right Employee Development Goals

Continued education and training are key to expanding responsibilities and advancing in one’s career. Seeking out such opportunities can help individuals stay relevant and competitive in their field, and increase their chances of getting promoted.

Compare Goals with Your To-Do List

Setting clear and measurable goals is essential for the growth and success of any business. However, it can be challenging to stay focused on these goals when urgent assignments and client demands arise.

For example, continuing professional education is crucial for boosting proficiency and experience, but it often falls short due to time constraints and competing priorities.

To overcome this challenge, it’s important to align annual goals with daily to-do lists. This can help ensure that daily tasks and urgent assignments are moving the team toward the larger goals and targets set for the year.

By prioritizing and balancing urgent tasks with long-term goals, businesses can achieve sustained growth and success.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How do SMART goals help with professionalism?

Ans. SMART goals can be summarized as follows:

They help achieve professional goals
They are measurable, achievable, specific, time-bound, and correct
They give a framework to track progress and mark the required revisions
They help one stay focused to achieve business goals

Q2. What is the need for the strategy for goals?

Ans. After you set your goals, don’t try to achieve them together, as it can be overwhelming, leading to failure. Instead, analyze the objective, evaluate the sources available, and plan on how to tackle it considering the priorities. In other words, you need to have a proper strategy in place.

Q3. Which strategy can help in achieving business goals?

Ans. SWOT analysis can clarify business goals. It helps analyze what’s working and where the business can improve more to yield better. That way, you understand which aspects of the business need attention and bring in more opportunities for the company.

How HR Helps Performance Review Calibration and Standardization

Performance review calibration is a workplace mechanism involving a formal discussion of proposed employee ratings among managers. The goal is to conduct a comprehensive performance evaluation of an employee, ascertaining their future, promotion, appraisals, etc., in the company.

Performance review calibration serves as a powerful tool in ensuring a uniform set of guidelines for assessing the performance of all employees. These calibrations also assist leaders in supporting one another and collaborating on the standards that should be set for team members at all levels of the organization. This helps managers draft employee expectations while determining the best way to conduct performance reviews. This practice removes the bias in the performance review process and ensures managers agree on the performance criteria against which their reports will be rated.

This article outlines the performance review calibration process, its significance, and some best practices.

What Is Calibration in Performance Reviews?

Performance review calibration (or performance management calibration) enables managers in an organization to maintain similar standards in each of their direct reports. This ensures everyone in the department is ranked on the same scale. The department, employee level, or job role can gauge and decide calibrations.

A firm should perform performance review calibrations before each significant review cycle. However, they may also be carried out if departments merge or organizations go through a management transition.

Also read: Introducing A Performance Management Tool In Your Organization

The Role of HR in Performance Calibration

HR professionals play a pivotal role in successful calibration sessions. They act as neutral facilitators, mitigating bias, conflict, and meeting fatigue. HR professionals must define clear behavioral expectations from participants, introduce data, and manage group size and agendas.

Ensuring Consistency

As a neutral facilitator, an HR should ensure fairness, objectivity, and consistency during calibration and standardization sessions of performance reviews. In addition to defining and upholding the criteria used to evaluate personnel, HR also assists managers in this process.

Aligning Employee-Employer Goals

HR professionals collaborate with managers to identify key performance indicators to evaluate an employee’s performance. They also set defined and objective performance criteria that align with the company’s vision and values.

Maintaining Review Cycles

HR is responsible for holding performance review calibration meetings after every review cycle. These review cycles may be annual, biannual, or more regular, depending on how a business is set up. The important thing is to keep the performance review calibration process consistent. A Betterworks survey reveals that 66% of companies implementing a continuous performance management system witnessed enhanced productivity.

Training Managers

HR provides necessary training to managers to understand effective evaluation techniques. The training equips managers with the skills to conduct fair assessments. HR educates managers about various aspects of performance evaluations. These aspects could be giving constructive feedback, counseling on performance issues, and deciding corrective actions while maintaining a supportive environment for growth.

Tracking Standardization

Furthermore, HR needs to monitor and keep track of the performance review process’s overall efficacy. It is their role to examine data gathered from evaluations to spot trends and potential improvement areas. The data lets them choose talent management methods like promotions, career advancement opportunities, or corrective measures.

An HR must compile aggregate and historical data for the business, including average ratings across critical factors, performance distributions, and the identification of outliers. Human Resources professionals’ involvement in performance review calibration and standardization is paramount for fostering transparency in the workplace while boosting trust and employee morale.

By setting clear evaluation standards, facilitating calibration sessions, educating managers regarding the process, and analyzing evaluation data – HR contributes significantly towards enhancing employee engagement and cultivating a culture of continuous improvement within organizations.

Steps Involved in Calibration of Performance Reviews

Calibrating and standardizing performance reviews are essential in keeping the review process unbiased and accurate. An organization’s HR drives the calibration process, including building capability models and facilitating manager calibration discussions. To effectively calibrate and standardize performance reviews, HR must follow these five steps:

Define Specific Criteria

Managers and supervisors should meet with executives and HR to review the goals, the evaluation process, and the standards for good performance ratings. Performance standards should support organizational objectives and offer a framework for evaluating many facets of job performance.

Train Managers

Managers need to be educated about effective techniques for performance evaluations. This includes training managers about the importance of calibration and guiding how to assess employees consistently using the established criteria.

A survey by Gartner found that 47% of HR leaders cannot identify employee skill gaps and training needs. Hence, HR should identify the training requirements for managers and accordingly use the latest methods and friendly technology to provide training.

Also read: Performance Appraisal Checklist for Managers and Employees

Conduct Calibration Meetings

HR representatives and senior management discuss employee appraisals. To ensure managers evaluate employees according to the same criteria, the group reviews the performance reports and employee ratings. Certain managers may rate employees as top performers, while others may rate the same employees as average performers.

Discussions are held to verify that ratings are issued properly and consistently and to modify individual ratings to conform to criteria. Consider using organizational charts for an easy-to-read overview of the employees.

Also read: Performance Calibration Meetings: Everything You Need To Know

Encourage Ongoing Feedback

Managers should understand the importance of continuous feedback. Regular feedback throughout the year, rather than waiting until the formal review period, helps ensure employees clearly understand their strengths and areas for improvement. Additionally, managers should be able to justify their ratings and comments and offer corrective actions and next steps for each employee.

Employee recognition statistics show that 85% of surveyed professionals feel weekly check-ins with their manager(s) increase employee engagement compared to their counterparts with annual reviews.

Communicate Feedback

Once necessary adjustments and decisions have been made, managers can communicate and discuss their performance reviews with employees. Managers should support their reviews with corrective action or a professional development plan for the employee. A study found that 86% of employees feel they would quit their current jobs in case of no opportunities for professional development.

Importance of Performance Reviews Calibration Process

Data by Gallup reveals that focusing on a robust performance management system has lowered turnover rates by 14.9%. Performance review calibration and standardization benefit organizations of all sizes. Businesses can guarantee a fair, accurate, and reliable performance evaluation by implementing a robust calibration mechanism.

Fair Ratings

One of the primary benefits of holding calibration sessions is that they promote fairness throughout the organization. When managers calibrate performance reviews, they compare ratings across different verticals or departments to ensure consistency. This eliminates any potential risk of favoritism that may exist.

For example, a lenient manager may rate all his employees 5/5, while a stricter manager may rate employees with similar performance standards a 3/5. The performance review calibration process aims to mitigate such discrepancies.

Employee Engagement

Another benefit of calibration is its ability to propel employee engagement and development. With standardized performance reviews, employees gain insight into their strengths and areas for improvement. This enables them to understand where they stand regarding company expectations and provides a roadmap for career growth and advancement.

Also read: Best Employee Engagement Strategies for Better Workplace

Enhanced Communication

Calibration meetings are crucial in fostering open communication between managers and employees. This transparent communication is important for any business to have its employees aligned with the organization’s goals.

Calibration sessions involve open dialogue between multiple stakeholders from various levels within the organization and cultivate a culture of collaboration and shared understanding among team members.

Better Decision-Making

Additionally, calibrated performance assessments provide organizations with useful information for making informed talent management decisions, including succession planning and promotions.

By prioritizing and implementing efficient performance review calibration and standardization processes, companies foster an inclusive work environment based on meritocracy. Investing in robust performance management software is a great way to strengthen an organization’s overall performance management system.

Also read: 5 Reasons To Start Using An HR Management Software For Your Business!

Summing Up

Equitable performance evaluations are only possible with performance management calibrations. When conducted properly, performance reviews inspire workers, foster learning via constructive feedback, and provide businesses insight into employee performance.

For every business, getting the performance appraisal cycle right is important. Engagedly provides new-age performance management software to align people’s practices with organizational strategy. Our all-in-one performance management system helps you get performance review calibrations right the first time by combining the tools, workflows, and insights to develop engaged and high-performing employees within a winning culture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What do the 3 R’s of performance management refer to?

Ans. The three R’s of performance management are rewards, retention, and remuneration.

Q2. What is the difference between KPIs and KRAs?

Ans. KRAs (or Key Responsibility Areas) refer to a set of responsibilities attached to a job profile. KPIs (or Key Performance Areas) are the metrics used to measure the level of accomplishment of KRAs.

Q3. Can managers have their rating scale for appraising an employee’s performance?

Ans. No, the rating scale must be the same across all the organization’s departments. Managers cannot develop an additional rating scale.

6 Most Important Takeaways From 20 of the Biggest Productivity Studies

When it comes to productivity levels, most people have their ups and downs. And that’s completely normal. Especially when we take into account the fact that productivity is hugely impacted by a variety of factors like internal motivation and digital adoption.

However, it is also true that organizational success hugely depends on employee efficiency and engagement.

Survey data shows that the annual cost of low productivity adds up to a whopping $1.8 trillion a year. Knowing this, it quickly becomes evident that boosting performance is a must for any company looking to thrive.

Are you a small business owner or manager looking to support your team and help them do better work? This article looks at some of the biggest productivity studies and surveys, giving you data-based takeaways to build effective strategies for increasing output quantity and quality.

Employee Well-Being = Thriving Company Performance

One of the most important things you must understand about improving productivity levels is that it’s directly related to your employees’ well-being.

In fact, a survey from the Great Place To Work® Institute revealed that organizations whose employees are happy tend to perform more than three times better than their competitors.

But even if your goals don’t include tripling your revenue or stock market value, investing in employee experience genuinely pays off.

According to Gallup, people who are thriving outperform colleagues who are struggling or suffering. In fact, when your workers are miserable (even when they display high engagement rates at work), it is significantly more likely that your team will experience burnout. They’ll inevitably worry, stress, and report feelings of sadness and anger.

Of course, managers and business owners can’t (and shouldn’t) attempt to fix their employees’ personal lives. However, according to the biggest productivity studies, there is a lot that leaders can do to support workers to improve their well-being and boost their efficacy.

Also read: The Complete Guide To Employee Health And Wellbeing Strategy

Physical and Mental Health Must Come First

According to a 2019 scientific report, meaningful increases in employee well-being yield, on average, a 10% productivity increase. So, to boost employee productivity, pay attention to your team’s health and happiness.

Productivity studies show that people who get 5 to 6 hours of sleep achieve 19% lower productivity levels than those who get the recommended 7 to 8 hours per night.
Nutrition can also be impactful. The consensus is that both blood sugar and micronutrient levels affect efficiency, showing just how important it is for your team to take breakfast and lunch seriously and choose whole, micronutrient-rich foods instead of eating takeout at their desk.
In a recent study, HBR revealed that physical activity leads to better sleep quality, higher energy levels, and improved task focus. And seeing how these factors significantly impact job performance and creativity, it’s easy to see there’s a link.
Mental health also has tremendous implications for organizational productivity. A 2022 critical review of available literature found clear evidence that poor mental health (manifested as depression or anxiety) is directly correlated with lost productivity.

There are many different ways of helping your team achieve maximum health. You could focus on providing healthy office snacks. Or you could organize team-building activities that promote movement — paddleboarding is a great workout, for example. And the best thing is that by doing any of these things, you can influence your workforce to take better care of themselves without making it feel like a chore.

Also read: Wellbeing At Work – The Remote Edition [Infographic]

Flexibility Is the Name of the Game

The State of Remote Work 2022 report from OwlLabs is one of the more recent productivity studies revealing that flexibility is one of the key contributors to better work performance.

According to the research, 62% of people feel more productive when working from home. The location allows them to:

focus better
be more creative
perform tasks independently and without distractions
meet their deadlines
achieve personal and professional growth

But flexibility is not just about staying home and doing loads of laundry between Zoom meetings.

An increasing number of young professionals are interested in exploring new flexible work modes. For instance, a recent survey discovered that 53% of Americans would be interested in taking a workcation — that is, to work from a holiday location.

The great news is that this is a relatively easy concession to make. Primarily, this is thanks to the wide availability of both hybrid business tools. Plus, international travel doesn’t have to be painfully expensive anymore either — you can now use tools like Google Flights to find cheap tickets.

So, if you can support your employees in making their dream of living in Italy for a summer come true, why not do it? After all, data from the biggest productivity studies shows that happy people make for productive employees. So that’s a win-win.

Experiments Show That Less May Be More

Finally, when it comes to helping employees thrive, it’s essential to remember that working a lot doesn’t necessarily equal getting a lot done.

In fact, the 2023 report from 4 Day Week Global revealed that out of the 2,900 UK workers surveyed:

39% felt less stressed.
71% had reduced levels of burnout.
54% saw improvements in their work-life balance.
Company revenue rose, on average, by 1.4%.

These findings show that policies such as mandatory PTO or even just encouraging your team to use their vacation time can positively affect performance.

In a recent article, HBR pointed out that just ten extra hours of time off improved employee year-end performance by 8%. Moreover, workers who used all their vacation time were more likely to get a promotion and less likely to quit their jobs.

Also read: Employee Happiness: 12 Ways To Keep Employees Happy

Embracing Technology Is More Than Just Being Trendy

In a world where new software solutions pop up daily, the idea of using technology to boost productivity may seem gimmicky. Because, yes, a new tool could improve a team’s output by 10% or 15%. But when there’s a steep learning curve involved, it can seem like the gains are not worth the effort.

Nonetheless, if you look at one of the biggest studies about tech and AI, you’ll find that these tools hold a lot of potential for improving productivity.

In fact, the Opportunities of Artificial Intelligence report published in 2020 found that one of the primary anticipated impacts of AI would be a 37% increase in labor productivity by 2035. Moreover, the implementation of AI and ML in organizations would drive innovation and growth. And contrary to naysayers’ beliefs, it would also create new jobs (instead of robots taking them over from humans).

So, what does this mean for leaders trying to support their employees in boosting productivity levels? The main takeaway is that future-oriented organizations must make it their mission to discover and use helpful tools to support their (human) workers in achieving exceptional results.

And the great thing is that there are numerous small and easy-to-implement ways to employ tech to drive productivity. From consulting interactive informational resources like the stocks chart from MarketBeat to signing up for services like Setapp, teams can make impressive wins. But only as long as they are prepared to adopt new tech in their pursuit of improving work outcomes and companywide performance.

Workplace Design Matters

Finally, when it comes to some of the most important takeaways from the biggest productivity studies, it’s important to mention that science has shown that work environments directly influence productivity levels.

In other words, the thousands of YouTube videos showing influencers sharing their work desk setups aren’t just a passing trend. Rather, they reflect the scientific fact that well-designed environments support good work.

For instance, setting the office thermostat to the right temperature could be the key to boosting productivity and minimizing errors. In fact, some productivity studies found that the ideal work conditions are in temperatures ranging from 68 to 86 degrees, with humidity levels between 20% and 60%.
Similarly impressive is the fact that air quality affects employees’ cognitive capacities. Poor ventilation and high levels of PM2.5 pollution slowed response times for workers and reduced their accuracy.
Improving environmental lighting quality is also an effective way to affect employees’ efficiency and well-being, according to a 2019 analysis.
And, of course, it’s also worth mentioning that some design choices — like adding plants to office spaces — don’t directly affect productivity. Nonetheless, they can lower people’s stress levels, which makes it easier to do efficient work by improving focus, boosting energy levels, heightening creativity, and lifting mood.

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

Conclusion

If you’ve decided to try and improve employee productivity using strategies derived from the biggest productivity studies, you’re on the right path.

However, you must remember not to expect huge improvements. Because, yes, big productivity gains can be a good thing. But, as was the case during the pandemic, they can also be the side-effect of an unhealthy relationship with work, such as a poor work-life balance or presenteeism.

So, to guarantee that the gains your team makes stay consistent, aim for small headways. Yes, a 1% boost in productivity may not sound impressive. However, if it’s maintained over a 10-year period, it will be much better for your business than a temporary uptick followed by a crash.

While a lack of human connection may not be a factor AI can ever learn to overcome, there are solutions to ensure AI can surmount its current limitations in the career space. This includes using diverse and representative training data to limit biases and create a fairer and more inclusive candidate experience, and continuously monitoring and evaluating AI algorithms.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What are the key points of employee productivity?

Ans. The key points of productivity include effective time management, goal clarity, task prioritization, continuous learning, and leveraging technology. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance and fostering a positive work environment also play vital roles in enhancing overall productivity.

Q2. Why is it important to study productivity?

Ans. Studying productivity is crucial as it enables individuals and businesses to optimize their time, resources, and efforts. By understanding productivity techniques, one can achieve more in less time, enhance efficiency, and achieve both personal and professional goals effectively.

Q3. What are the main factors that affect employee productivity?

Ans. The main factors influencing employee productivity include workplace environment, clear communication, task delegation, skill development, work-life balance, and job satisfaction. Addressing these factors positively can lead to improved employee engagement and overall organizational productivity.

Author: Natasha

Natasha is a lady of a keyboard and one hell of a geek. She has been working for, and collaborating with, individual clients and companies of all sizes for more than a decade. Natasha specializes in writing about design, branding, digital marketing, and business growth. She is also addicted to art in all its forms and grilled tofu.

Subscribe To The Engagedly Newsletter

5 Tips to Boost Your Small Business’ Productivity

It’s no secret that improving employee productivity is crucial to a small business’ success, in fact for all businesses. But for small businesses, it can often be challenging to make the right changes to improve efficiencies and increase profits. So how do you balance productivity with cost-effectiveness and maximize results?

Small businesses have several options for getting more done faster and cheaper. But suppose you want to see real, measurable improvements in your day-to-day operations. In that case, you may need to assess where your company could use additional support — especially when it comes to tracking employee performance. That’s where employee time trackers come into the picture.

How to Improve Employees’ Productivity

One of the most effective ways to improve employee productivity is to hire people with the right skills for the job rather than relying solely on resumes. Hiring experienced and knowledgeable employees can help ensure tasks are completed quickly and efficiently.

Providing employees with the right technology and education by attending relevant seminars or taking a course can also help to increase productivity. Technology such as time trackers can track employee activities, allowing them to monitor their productivity and adjust accordingly.

Below are the five effective ways small businesses can use time trackers to improve their productivity — while helping employees become more efficient.

Also Read: Employee Experience vs. Employee Productivity: Does One Affect the Other?

Implement an Online Time Clock App for Accurate Time Tracking

Implementing an online free clock-in clock-out app is essential when improving a small business’s productivity. These apps help track attendance, timesheets, and labor costs and export payroll data while enabling many other features through which a custom report can also be created.

For instance, the GPS tracking feature can record employee location when they clock in and out of their work day. This can be extremely helpful for businesses that need a better handle on where their employees are at any given moment.

Time clock apps can also help businesses manage employee scheduling and time tracking. It can also help in task management and payroll with ease. Accurate employee time tracking allows business owners to build schedules around employee availability. They can assign tasks based on individual strengths. Furthermore, these apps can calculate worked hours and prepare detailed reports for accurate payroll processing at the end of the month.

Online time clock apps are a definite must for any small business looking to improve productivity and save time in the long run.

Set Clear Goals and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Employees

Goals and KPIs provide measurable targets to track progress and efficiency. When it comes to performance-based metrics, KPIs are the standard. KPIs are quantifiable metrics used to measure progress toward a goal.

They should be aligned with the business strategy, attainable, acute (easily measured and monitored), accurate (consistent), actionable (immediate or short-term), and alive (reviewed regularly).

Examples of KPIs include Voluntary Attrition, Employee Net Promoter Score (NPS), and Quarterly Sales Goals. Establishing these metrics throughout every level of the organization motivates employees.

It also creates accountability for everyone on the team. NPS measures employee satisfaction by rating their performance on a scale from 1 to 10. While Quarterly Sales Goals help check whether groups meet their desired target sales. Setting clear goals for employees to reach helps managers determine how productive their staff is.

Provide Adequate Training and Learning Opportunities

Providing adequate training and learning opportunities for employees will lead to improved productivity and higher staff retention. Training is a crucial factor for small businesses to stimulate proactive thinking. This can include onboarding, company culture training, leadership development, and even industry-specific skills.

The idea of providing training and learning opportunities is two-fold. It helps to build employee skill sets allowing them to stay current with new technology and systems. At the same time, it also gives them a chance to show initiative in the workplace. Both are important for improving staff morale.

Building a learning culture in small businesses has benefits. It can include better employee engagement and an understanding that their work matters within the business. This gives employees an environment where they can thrive. They can experiment with creative ideas and collaborate with different departments or colleagues. This leads to greater productivity.

Conduct Regular Performance Reviews and Feedback

Regular performance reviews and feedback can play a fundamental role in improving employee productivity for small businesses. Most companies have abandoned traditional performance reviews. However, many argue that feedback given during regular assessments can enhance employee performance.

Performance reviews help maintain a healthy and positive company culture. It also allows employers to identify areas where employees need improvement. It can help in training them to manage their workloads better. Moreover, it helps employees feel supported. Knowing that their employers are invested in their success. And that they are available to offer constructive feedback when needed.

Some tips for conducting effective performance reviews include:

Be clear on the goals you set for each review.
Allow employees time to share their thoughts on past accomplishments and present challenges.
Always finish by providing constructive criticism and areas for improvement.
Ensure a two-way dialog with both parties listening to exchange views.

Motivate Employees through Recognition and Rewards

One way to motivate employees to become more productive is by recognizing and rewarding them. A simple thank you, or a few words of encouragement can make employees feel appreciated. It can act as an incentive for them to continue working hard.

Moreover, rewards can reinforce good behavior and motivate employees to continue their best efforts. It can be bonuses, time off, gift cards, or recognition awards. The rewards don’t have to be extravagant. Something as small as a gift card or words of appreciation can go a long way in recognizing hard work. Rewards help boost morale and encourage employees to strive for higher productivity levels.

All people want to feel that their contributions are appreciated and rewarded. Businesses foster an environment conducive to higher performance levels by recognizing individual accomplishments. Recognizing employees‘ achievements boosts morale and motivation. This encourages them to continue striving for excellence.

Also Read: Engagedly + Meta Workplace: Elevate Rewards and Recognition to New Heights

Challenges of Small Startup Companies when Having Remote Workers

Small startups tackling the remote working model for the first time might face a few challenges.

Communication is a Key Challenge

Communication is a crucial challenge for startup businesses. Especially when it comes to remote work arrangements. With tech-based solutions, it’s easy to keep everyone in the loop for communications. But to do so, you need to ensure that everyone uses the same tools. This requires trial and error and training.

Remote Employees Requires Additional Consideration

When it comes to remote employees, there are more considerations you’ll need to take into account. Like job descriptions and communication style preferences. You’ll also need to consider handling work interaction without having an office space. Consider a place where workers can physically meet up and collaborate.

Remote Work Can Lead to Overworking, Isolation and Communication Breakdown

Remote work can lead to overworking. This is due to a lack of boundaries. Isolation also happens due to a lack of physical interaction with colleagues. Breakdowns in communication can occur when stakeholders need to learn how or when they can access your remote team. To avoid these issues, clear expectations must be set from the start. Regular check-ins are carried out with remote workers and on-site team members.

Final Thoughts

Implementing a few of the practices outlined in this article can improve employee productivity for your small business. Introducing a time clock app or setting boundaries for work hours can create a more efficient work environment. It can also promote productivity among employees.

Ultimately, it’s worth the effort to optimize the workplace to improve the success and productivity of the business.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is employee productivity for small business?

Ans. Employee productivity for small business is the efficiency of workers in achieving business goals and completing tasks effectively.

Q2. How to improve employee productivity for small businesses?

Ans. To improve employee productivity for small businesses, focus on clear goals, training, engagement, work-life balance, efficient communication, proper tools, recognition, time management, streamlined processes, and teamwork.

Q3. Why focus on improving employee productivity for small businesses?

Ans. Focusing on improving employee productivity for small businesses boosts efficiency, competitiveness, and profitability, leading to better customer satisfaction and business growth.

Subscribe To The Engagedly Newsletter

A Guide to Employee Risk Management

In the dynamic landscape of modern workplaces, organizations striving for success continually encounter new challenges. Failing to adapt and implement necessary changes can result in adverse outcomes such as employee attrition, a damaged reputation, and regulatory issues. Employee risk management emerges as an inevitable aspect that is challenging to eliminate entirely. However, companies can proactively adopt specific practices to anticipate potential risks, thereby reducing the likelihood of risks materializing and mitigating potential damages.

What Makes Employee Risk Management So Important?

Other than the aforementioned consequences, risk management also helps with the overall productivity of an organization.

Imagine how focused a worker can be if potential risks are on their mind while working. Creating a cohesive work environment is an unreasonable aspiration under such circumstances.

Of course, given how popular a hybrid work model and remote working are in general, those who stay at home do not face immediate threats that occur in-house. They have an easier time focusing.

On the other hand, it does not mean that remote workers can rest easy knowing that they can avoid possible risks.

If anything, the employee risk area list goes beyond what is just happening on-site. Organizations have to consider multiple factors that make a monolith, that is, the workforce.

The List of Key Employee Risk Areas

Development

It is in the hands of human resources to ensure employees are equipped with the necessary skills and tools to carry out their tasks.

By dedicating themselves, workers also expect to get something in return, i.e., career opportunities.

The risk is in the failure to provide the development at the right time or providing it only to a select few. The latter, especially, reflects poorly and creates friction within the workforce.

Ethics

Disputes between peers or employees and upper management may result due to poor ethical practices.

Some organizations might take the risk of choosing one candidate over another because of religion, sexuality, or gender.

Such a mindset signals that the organization has problems when it comes to ethics. One of the most prominent hazards associated with HR risk management is to encourage and implement equal opportunity hiring, which leads to a more non-discriminatory work environment.

Safety Laws

Many people associate work risks with various incidents that lead to physical injuries. At the same time, there is also a bigger emphasis on the mental employee state.

It is crucial to ensure that an organization’s policies and activities are in line with local regulations. Moreover, since the law gets updated on a regular basis, keeping up with the changes and implementing them can be tricky.

Security and Privacy

Cybersecurity is another headache for many organizations. Data breaches occur without prior warning, so it is imperative to have a proper system in place to prevent the risks.

Both employee and client data have to be stored safely. Also, people in charge of handling the information have to be held to a high standard considering the repercussions of misusing data.

Workforce

The general functioning of an organization’s workforce in relation to employee engagement with peers and the company itself also poses multiple challenges.

Conflicts, burnouts, the sense of unfulfilled expectations, and other similar issues are an obstacle preventing a productive environment.

Also Read: The Go To Guide To Perfecting The Employee Engagement Survey

Employee Benefits

No employee will work for free. They expect to get a salary that justifies their qualifications and the effort put into carrying out the work.

Besides, it is not just a salary. Benefits come in different forms, and it is up to the employer to find out what the workers need. Otherwise, the risk of having some of your employees leave for a competitor increases.

Structural Changes

Structural changes vary from small to significant. A department may promote someone from outside or within. Alternatively, a company could merge or get acquired, which poses serious questions to consider for the staff involved.

It helps when there is enough time to prepare for everything, but there are still different risks, such as someone deciding that they do not want to continue working in the organization just before the change.

Disruptions are a nuisance when transitioning to a new structure, and it is no wonder that so many organizations struggle.

Creating an Effective Employee Risk Management Strategy

Understanding where the risks lie is part of the management, but you also have to create an effective strategy. Let’s take a look at how the process should be.

Assessing the risks

The first step should be assessing the current risks in the organization. Looking back at the history of what was the biggest problem helps in planning and preparing in advance.

If a company has few problems to take care of, they will have an easier time than those who have a plethora of risky areas.

The sense of feeling overwhelmed can be crippling, but even that is possible to overcome if you break problems down one by one.

Sometimes, companies see a risk and question how likely it is to actually occur. Or whether the consequences are detrimental enough. For instance, if you have to invest more money in a security system than the losses that would occur in case of a hazard, financially, that does not make sense.

However, safety and employee risk management, or rather prevention, should be a priority. The assessment should not be about cutting costs.

Identifying suitable precautions

Precautions are a safety net that exists in case of a threat becoming an actual problem. Different organizations have different models and areas, so they have to adjust accordingly.

Putting enough effort into finding the risks means it is easier to find precautions. Some implementations will be company-wide. Others, meanwhile, will involve individual employees and departments.

Personal advice is heavily encouraged as well, particularly when it comes to senior employees or those from another department who specialize in a particular subject.

Take IT, for example; let’s say someone receives a new MacBook for work but does not know how to delete apps on Mac that won’t delete. Such issues can cause one to think that there is a potential malware threat, and who knows what that could lead to, especially if the device has sensitive data on it or is part of a bigger network.

Checking in with someone who understands such things should be a heavily encouraged policy throughout the organization. Not only does it identify potential risks, but it also leads to finding solutions.

Also Read: The Importance of Workplace Environment in Employee Engagement

Establishing a monitoring system

What follows after assessing the risks and finding solutions is a monitoring system. There should be a constant assessment of what is going on.

It will require additional resources, but the step is inevitable to ensure that the risks are minimized. At the end of the day, there is only so much that supervisors can do.

A monitoring system will also answer whether the risks are managed better. Registering incidents and seeing the trend of how the numbers change over time is a worthwhile investment.

Monitoring also lets organizations observe how specific risks affect different employees/departments.

Finally, by having a bigger picture, companies can determine whether people within the organization require additional training. Lack of communication, personal skills, and other areas can and should be improved if it helps with the overall organizational risk management.

Seeking new solutions

Staying ahead of the curve is an excellent piece of advice for risk control. An effective system in place is great, but it does not mean that organizations should give up on an idea to improve it.

Perhaps an employee comes up with something from their personal experience and shares what could have been done to avoid a problem.

Keeping an eye on the industry and learning from the troubles of other organizations are also worthwhile considerations. Instead of waiting for a risk to get to you, be proactive and introduce preventive measures.

Conclusion

To sum it all up, organizations have to create a strategy that prevents or minimizes risks so that employees can focus on their work instead of pondering what might happen.

There are multiple sources for potential risks, but it is to be expected, given how volatile everything is these days.

At the same time, though, changes also mean new and improved means to fend off the risks, and that is what organizations should take advantage of when working on applications of risk management and prevention.

Also Read: Best Employee Engagement Strategies for Better Workplace

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is employee risk management?

Ans. Employee risk management can be defined as a business aspect of ensuring that people within the organization can focus on the work instead of worrying about risks that are present in the environment.

Q2. Why must organizations work on reducing potential risks?

Ans. A risk-free work environment means that employees can focus on what matters the most—carrying out the tasks given to them. This leads to a functioning and productive organization that achieves its goals.

Q3. How to create an effective strategy to reduce potential risks?

Ans. An effective strategy should be based on risk assessment, precaution identification, constant monitoring, and seeking new solutions.

Since different companies have different pain points to worry about, there is no universal answer to how a risk management strategy should be carried out. Instead, organizations have to take already established and effective methods and apply them accordingly while making adjustments along the way and looking for better alternatives.

How To Build A Performance Oriented Culture In Your Organization

Whenever you take a look at companies that perform exceedingly well, time after time, year after year, you will find that there’s one factor behind it. And that is a performance-oriented culture.

A culture of high performance can be an incredibly motivating force and change the course of an organization. But how does focusing on performance orientation in an organization’s culture help? For one, a culture of high performance does not just spring out of the woodwork in the organization.

Continue reading “How To Build A Performance Oriented Culture In Your Organization”

Use of AI in Performance Reviews

As the years go by, our relationship with technology changes. Emerging techs like artificial intelligence can assist human resources to empower their workforce. This makes annual team assessment effective and less stressful and gives optimal results to understand what’s next and how to bring improvements.

Gartner forecasted how artificial intelligence is to pick up speed, with a 21.3% of growth rate in 2022 than 2021.

What is an AI Performance Review?

AI Performance Review is a modern approach to employee evaluations that leverages artificial intelligence technology to assess and analyze an employee’s performance. It involves using AI algorithms to gather and analyze data from various sources, such as work productivity metrics, feedback from colleagues, and self-assessments.

The AI system provides more objective and data-driven insights, enabling organizations to make informed decisions about employee development, recognition, and talent management. AI Performance Review and feedback help streamline the review process, remove biases, and enhance the accuracy and fairness of performance evaluations.

Benefits of Using AI for Performance Reviews

AI can track employee performance and assess the need for improvement. Let’s delve deeper into the benefits of the use of AI in performance reviews.

1. Automated reviews

Business leaders prefer AI-driven performance reviews as they allow them to focus on factual details. It is required to produce performance reports. The employees don’t need to collaborate; the AI software is suitable for effective performance management. The ROI on performance management shows the benefits of using AI in reviews.

2. No human intervention required

Chances of human errors were high in conventional performance reviews when managers mostly depended on trusted feedback from team leaders. This can break or make an individual’s career. From rating to suggesting training courses, the managers take up a lot of effort. Doing this for a large group can be taxing and increases the chance of human error, and things like personal bias, incomplete data, and favoritism can interrupt the appraisal.

AI in performance management has no personal connection and helps create analytical reports based on the data collected.

3. Real-time analysis and assessment

The shift from periodical performance appraisal to continuous reviews offers benefits. Now, performance can be continuously improved and corrected, and the organization can become flexible and alert.

The digital power of AI helps capture continuous data from various sources like communication among employees. This is where the system can show real-time insights into an individual’s performance and managers can give instant and constructive feedback. It saves time and effort to frame periodic reviews, where employees must recall and verify details from sources.

4. Solving bias or exacerbating it

It is time to let go of the age-old prejudices when managers often get biased toward an employee. This is what AI can avoid and keep away from biases, ensuring equality. AI keeps away prejudices based on ethnicity, nationality, age, race, and others and offers equal opportunities.

Human nature might get directed, resulting in biased behavior, unlike machines that follow a direct path. So, artificial intelligence and machine learning can create an unbiased environment that can provide equal opportunities while appraising or giving promotions.

5. Identifying incompetence and making improvements

To identify incompetence and make improvements, an organization should focus on creating a collaborative workspace. It should promote teamwork, regardless of bias or hierarchy. Though technology will improve and speed up HR management, human interventions can help build ideas and campaigns and reach customers to maintain a real connection with them.

AI and data are valuable company assets, and AI in performance management will give leaders more time to invest in core business functions and develop new ideas. It can further help individuals have a realistic timeline and set achievable goals to meet deadlines. It should show in individual performance and help boost productivity.

AI can further help in the predictive appraisal so that there is no unfair practice or emotional decision-making. Unfair treatment can be caused by emotional instability, and AI software can remove that.

6. Training and developing improvements

Managers should know how to identify the gaps between talent tools and arrange for personalized training. It can help individuals analyze their career progression through the effective use of performance reviews and hone skill sets. Managers need to identify employee competency and not miss any scope for improvement that directly impacts an individual’s performance. Having AI can help identify an employee’s performance that needs improvement. AI technology in learning programs enables fast learning.

7. Higher employee engagement

A continuous performance review can help AI conduct frequent surveys and get real-time feedback. It can also offer personalized insights to employees with the help of surveys in self-evaluation. This is how management can help employees promote engagement and get a clear picture of the daily achievement of individuals and teams. AI can unveil an individual’s potential and predict one’s future performance level.

Also Read: Best Employee Engagement Strategies for a Better Workplace

Managers can win with – Intuition and AI Tech

AI alone cannot be enough to derive the best results. Managers working with multiple employees know an individual better and help perform at an optimum. Human knowledge can be strengthened with AI to help an individual improve accuracy and have greater foresight into performance.

The use of AI-driven performance reviews is the new trend preferred across industries. If organizations are to focus on employee performance and satisfaction, this performance feedback is integral.

Why is the market for AI-powered performance reviews progressing?

AI-powered performance assessment takes place in real time, and the progress scale is well evaluated. As it happens in a real-time scenario, it introduces incentives with positive enforcement and alerts the leaders regarding the performance scale. Most top companies are deploying a continuous feedback strategy that has reduced turnover.

Even the HR management team gets continuous feedback on performance and context-specific performance, depending on specific projects an individual works on.

Also Read: Continuous Feedback and Its Benefits

Executives already using AI performance management tools can combine the results of the tools with personalized oversight. Therefore, the combination augments employee efficiency and productivity without replacing it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How can AI make a team productive?

Ans. Artificial intelligence is one of the effective tools to boost team productivity and efficiency. Regardless of the industry, there are repetitive tasks, and AI can handle them better. It is one of the major reasons companies have started infusing this tech into existing infrastructure. It helps boost customer experience and reduce the chance of human errors in daily activities.

Q2. How does AI in performance reviews help?

Ans. AI-driven performance reviews revolutionize traditional evaluations, providing objective, data-driven assessments, eliminating biases, and offering real-time feedback for personalized development. Automating the process saves time, identifies patterns, and fosters a culture of accountability and recognition, benefiting employees and organizations.

Q3. How is AI an essential aspect of a performance review system?

Ans. It is about collecting vast data about individuals, as data collection is vital in reviewing. The key to the performance management system is to analyze things from various perspectives and anticipate what can come out of the reviewing process.

6 Problems Companies Can Reduce With Gamification

According to a statistics compendium published by Gitnux, 9 out of 10 employees noticed a rise in their productivity once a company integrated gamification techniques into the work experience.

The stat alone indicates that gamification has its place in the workplace. After all, it is common to see the trend of gamification growing in human resources. Specialists are looking at the available gamification mechanics and how these mechanics can be integrated with an everyday work environment.

What Makes Gamification Effective?

If your supervisor puts in the effort to gameify the department, it means that they believe in the method. But where does such an approach come from?

Take yourself back to the days of when you were a student. The odds are that instead of doing schoolwork, you were more interested in playing games. The desire to procrastinate is hard to resist when you are surrounded by friends who encourage you to go outside and have some fun. And what about video games? Many of us have spent hours and hours on those.

The idea behind gamification’s success can be attributed to two notable characteristics—collaboration and game immersion.

You cooperate with others and immerse yourself in a reality that helps you escape dullness. In a workplace that gets monotonous, introducing even a little bit of gamification can make a significant difference.

Also Read: The Growing Trend of Gamification in HR

The Benefits of Gamification

It is also worth mentioning the benefits that come from gamification. It is not just a company as an entity that can benefit from it. Individuals stand to gain something valuable as well, which further encourages them to engage with the system.

Besides the aforementioned aspect of having fun, gamification also:

Improves memory and attention span
Enhances storytelling and imagination
Helps with decision making
Creates a sense of achievement

Understanding how gamification benefits individuals makes it easier to see why the implementation of the concept can reduce certain problems that a fair few companies struggle to overcome. Let’s take a look at those problems in detail.

Employee Attraction, Motivation, and Retention

Employees are the heart and soul of a company, and it is up to the higher-ups to keep them happy and engaged while also ensuring that the right people join the team.

There are multiple perks that influence a potential recruit’s decision whether to join or not. It might not seem like a big deal, but if a company has a digital environment to help employees reach their goals, it will stand out from the competition.

An employee can join and play a game that tracks their status and goals. Once the participant clears a stage, they can move on to the next goal. A sense of direction also works as a means to motivate and encourage employees to continue. And if there is a reward in it, then that further boosts the desire to participate. With all that said, an employee who is happy and motivated will be much easier to retain, even if they receive offers from other companies.

One final thing to note, of course, is the fact that different departments have different priorities, and not every single person in a department is likely to have the drive to join. As such, it is crucial to think about different gamification levels and techniques that should be introduced.

Also Read: Hiring Advice: Staffing and Employment Trends for 2023

Employee Health

In a busy work environment where productivity and profits are prioritized so much, it is common to see health being overlooked.

Overworking yourself to a point where you suffer consequences later is hardly ideal for long-term success.

Implementing gamification is relatively simple. You can hire an app developer or pick one of the already available applications and encourage employees to treat using these apps as a game.

For example, an app could track one’s time spent in front of a monitor or how many calories they consume on average throughout a week or a month.

Setting goals to take regular breaks, balance your diet, or spend more time can be treated as a game so long as you track your progress and checkmark goals.

By prioritizing employee health, a company further strengthens itself as a responsible employer. And similar to work productivity, instances of success in overcoming health problems or maintaining a positive result can also be rewarded.

Maintenance and Development Costs

By gamifying the workplace, a company stands to reduce its maintenance and development costs long-term. The overall savings might not be significant, but every little bit helps, especially for those who run on a tight budget or want to dedicate more resources to the well-being of the employees.

In this case, the purpose of gamification is to create a knowledge base and build a tool that collects data about employee engagement, training, progress, and so on.

It becomes much easier to identify which methods work and which do not when you have a gamification system in hand to provide instant results based on past experiences.

If a method is successful, it is worth continuing to use it and maybe developing further by investing more. On the other hand, if one of your gamification techniques did not prove good, you will have a piece of data to justify giving it up.

Customer Loyalty and Brand Awareness

There are true and tried methods to boost customer loyalty and raise brand awareness. However, it does not mean that you cannot look for new and less conventional ideas.

Even if it is for the sake of variety, businesses stand to gain if they gameify certain aspects of their products and try gamification in sales.

First of all, you need to decide which elements you want to introduce. Choosing between one of the following should be a good start:

Points
Levels
Virtual currencies
Badges
Leaderboards

From a consumer’s point of view, there are two notable points of attraction. The first is competition against others, and the second is taking a direct advantage by participating.

Breaking these two down, let’s cover the competitive side first. Take Duolingo, for example. This well-known language education app has weekly leaderboards and multiple divisions that encourage users to spend more time on the app to learn and collect points and achievements because they want to be at the top of the leaderboards.

As far as the direct benefits go, those are pretty self-explanatory. If a service offers a discount code or a loyalty badge that enables free shipping, for instance, you can expect the engagement rate to grow significantly.

So what does this all lead to? By engaging with the product, customers become more attached and loyal. Not to mention that they are more likely to share their positive experiences with others. And considering how effective word of mouth is, it is understandable to see more and more companies try gamification marketing a go.

Data Collection

In the era of digital information and strict laws on data management, it is tricky to collect data and utilize it.

Brands make decisions based on the information they have. Customer demographics, habits, and other details help create a consumer persona that can then be utilized to create your targets.

However, businesses have to align the data collection with GDPR. Otherwise, they stand to break the law and face consequences.

The great thing about gamification is that it helps you circumvent the regulations. There are certain tools and services that let brands collect data legally. As for how this data is utilized, it is entirely up to the companies that gather the information.

Multiple Platform Reach

Roughly half of all the internet traffic comes from mobile devices. The other half is from desktops.

The split creates quite a few problems for brands that are looking to create a universal marketing campaign to cover as many potential consumers as possible.

For example, ads display differently on smartphones compared to desktop computers. Or, if you open an email on a tablet, the odds are that it will not display as the sender initially wanted. Sure, in some cases, the fault lies on the user’s end because they do not have optimized devices.

According to the Backlight blog, failing to clear the cache, remove spyware, or enable updates leads to performance and display issues. However, as a brand, you do not focus on these obstacles and want to do what you can do.

It is about efficiency. Managing resources is easier when there is a marketing method that works on multiple platforms.

Gamification is exactly that. Social media, apps, software as a service, and anything else with the potential to be gamified on both computers and mobile devices opens opportunities to make the most out of gamification without worrying about restrictions.

Also Read: Engagedly Gamification Module

Closing thoughts

All in all, the fact that gamification solves such significant problems illustrates why gamification solutions are on the mind of those managing both big and small companies.

The idea of gamifying your work environment is still relatively new and comes with certain challenges, but the benefits outweigh the drawbacks by a significant margin. As such, if your organization has not considered implementing gamification, now might be a good time to reconsider.

After all, companies that do not bother with it stand to fall behind the competition, and it can be difficult to make a comeback once everyone else is ahead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is gamification and it’s example?

Ans. Gamification is the application of game elements and mechanics in non-game contexts to engage and motivate individuals. It involves incorporating elements such as points, badges, leaderboards, challenges, and rewards into activities or systems to make them more enjoyable and encourage desired behaviors.

Example: A fitness app that uses gamification could award points and badges to users for completing daily workouts, achieving personal milestones, or participating in challenges. Users can compete with friends on leaderboards, earn rewards or virtual goods, and track their progress visually. This gamified approach helps to motivate and sustain user engagement in their fitness journey.

Q2. How does gamification work?

Ans. Gamification works by incorporating game elements like goals, challenges, rewards, and competition into non-game activities. It engages and motivates people by tapping into their desire for achievement, progression, and social interaction.

Subscribe To The Engagedly Newsletter

A Complete Guide to Improve the Performance Appraisal Process

Performance Appraisal

The performance assessment, also known as a performance review, performance evaluation, or worker appraisal, is a systematic way of evaluating an employee’s overall performance and contribution to the business on a regular basis, with the ultimate objective of enhancing their performance.

Performance evaluations serve several functions, including providing useful feedback, providing a defined time to analyse work performance, and ensuring the equitable distribution of compensation increases and incentives among employees.

The fact that the employee and the supervisor share responsibilities for the employee assessment process is critical. While the supervisor is in charge of this process, active engagement from the employee is essential to establish the required commitment to make the improvements that the performance evaluation seeks to achieve. We will discuss more about this in the upcoming sections.

Performance Appraisal vs Performance Management

In the realm of workforce optimization, an important distinction lies between performance appraisal and overall performance management cycle. While performance appraisal centers around formal evaluations, performance management encompasses a broader spectrum of interactions between workers and managers, all aimed at driving performance enhancement. Today, we delve into the intricacies of the performance appraisal, an integral part of the performance management cycle that bestows official recognition upon the diligent efforts of employees.

Performance management, a comprehensive framework, encompasses both formal and informal discussions that we will explore in the table below. These meaningful exchanges, ranging from planned sit-downs to impromptu conversations, form the backbone of a dynamic and growth-oriented work environment.

We are all well acquainted with the performance appraisal cycle. Usually, this occurs a couple of times a year, taking place at the start of the year and across the half-year point. These are formal sit-downs wherein the direct supervisor or manager evaluates overall performance on the primary responsibilities and duties of the employee. An overall performance rating is derived based on this appraisal, which is used for promotions, rewards, and terminations.

Also Read: How To Shift To A Web Based Performance Appraisal System?

Job Performance

As performance appraisal is directly related to performance and can enhance overall job/task performance, it is essential to outline what it is.

The degree to which an employee performs the tasks outlined in their job description is referred to as job performance. Individuals with perfect task performance accomplish all of the requirements of their tasks, meet their work objectives, and meet the overall performance criteria. This is sometimes referred to as in-function task performance.

Workers can also help their organisation by engaging in behaviours that aren’t directly related to their given tasks. Extra-function performance, contextual performance, or organisational citizenship behaviours are examples of this.

This extra-function behaviour includes aiding colleagues with work after they return after an absence, assisting colleagues who are dealing with excessive job stress or other issues, and being willing to perform things that do not match your function but contribute to the organisation in general. Both in-role and extra-role behaviours are important in terms of exact performance and must be included at some point in the performance review.

Also Read: Performance Appraisal Checklist For Managers And Employees

Key Success Factors of a Performance Appraisal

Every corporate firm approaches performance evaluations differently. Nonetheless, there are various quality practises that every supervisor must recognise while evaluating employee overall performance.

Use of clear intention

Both supervisors and workers may feel uneasy at some time during the performance assessment. That is perhaps the highest official placement they may have all year, and it does not occur frequently enough to be considered a typical occurrence. Utilizing an activity-based overall performance assessment may help both the parties, with better instructions and the overall performance evaluation process.

Involvement of employees

One of the key issues in worker value determinations is a loss of buy-in from the worker. A meta-evaluation via way of means of Cawly, Keeping & Levy (1998) suggests that there may be a robust correlation between the participation of the worker and their reaction. Employee participation is the quantity to which an employee is able to take part in the performance appraisal process. Employees who participated in their performance evaluation had been extra satisfied, rated the process as fairer, and useful, and had been further influenced to improve. A higher level of employee participation revealed 40% higher satisfaction, 35% in fairness, 30% in usefulness, and 19% in motivation to improve.

Constructive feedback first!

According to Daniel Pink (2018), it has been observed that individuals tend to experience the highest level of satisfaction when addressing negative news early on in a conversation or interview. By doing so, the stage is set for a more productive discussion, allowing for a smoother transition towards positive information, which is then purposefully saved for the latter part of the interaction. This strategic approach ensures that the overall assembly concludes on a high note, leaving a lasting impression of effectiveness and accomplishment.

Consistency of feedback

Receiving feedback only once a year is insufficient in driving performance improvement. Employees express a desire for regular and ongoing feedback to enhance their work performance. It is important to explore methods that enable managers to stay connected with their employees consistently, leveraging the use of technology.

By leveraging technology, managers can establish efficient channels of communication to provide timely feedback and guidance. This could include the use of digital platforms, such as email, instant messaging applications, or project management tools. These channels can facilitate regular check-ins, allowing managers to stay informed about their employees’ progress, address any concerns promptly, and offer constructive feedback in a timely manner.

Moreover, technology can enable the implementation of performance management systems that streamline the feedback process. These systems can incorporate features such as regular performance evaluations, real-time feedback mechanisms, and goal tracking functionalities. By utilizing technology-driven tools, managers can establish a framework that promotes continuous feedback, fostering an environment of growth and improvement within the organization.

Organizations recognize the significance of frequent feedback and actively work towards cultivating a culture of open communication. They achieve this by fostering transparent and collaborative environments where employees feel at ease seeking feedback and sharing their progress with their managers. By nurturing a supportive feedback culture, organizations ensure that employees receive the necessary guidance to excel in their roles and make valuable contributions to the overall success of the company.

In conclusion, embracing technology and fostering a culture of continuous feedback stand as pivotal steps in meeting employees’ expectations for regular and ongoing feedback. By harnessing digital tools and promoting open communication, organizations create an environment that propels performance improvement and empowers employees to unleash their full potential.

Accurate documentation

Important choices regarding who to promote and which salaries to raise, as well as who to terminate, are based on performance management information. It is crucial to maintain meticulous documentation during performance appraisal conferences. Consistency in evaluating and reporting performance statistics throughout the company is crucial. Storing this information in a central database, like a talent management system, becomes imperative for effective management. This is likewise essential when you turn to more continuous feedback.

A 2016 paper from the NeuroLeadership Institute discovered that 91% of corporations that have followed non-stop performance management document better facts for people’s decisions. These corporations additionally file a primary development in doing away with bias in promotion and advancement.

Evolution form of job performance

A job performance evaluation form often has multiple components. Additionally, we can index the appraisee’s call with their worker ID, appraisal date, as well as the call made by the appraiser or direct supervisor and the appraisal period.

Following that, there is typically a performance portion, followed by a behaviour section. The supervisor might compliment the employee for exceptional aspects in the performance segment. These might be skills or a leadership quality. Both function is to assess the worker’s performance in their current employment.

In the behavioral segment, the worker may be rated for going the extra mile. This consists of ratings including excellent teamwork, altruism, and dedication to the organization.

The activity of filling in the performance evaluation form commonly also includes areas of improvement, that an appraiser needs to highlight.

Competencies

Jobs often have a predefined set of skills required to do them successfully. These skills fall into 2 categories: Core abilities and job-precise competencies.

Core abilities are the abilities that everybody within the organisation needs. These are set with the aid of the board. Every person is needed to have at least a minimum amount of information about them. The more senior the function, the better the desired competency stage. An example is being a business for a consulting firm, in which associates and companions all want to work to generate greater sales from new and present customers.

HR and the direct managers are constantly describing job-specific competencies. These are the talents necessary for superior work performance. For each skill, we can define three to five levels that correspond to specific behaviors. We can evaluate the worker based on their performance in these abilities. Here’s an example from the SHRM special report on performance management below. As you can see, they employ a five-factor scale based on three skill levels here.

Job performance and job behavior scales

This technique is used generally in the scientific literature. When analyzing a person’s performance, it is not possible to create a customized evaluation for all functions. Instead, researchers searched for one way to evaluate them all.

Researchers use a device that measures matters: in-role and extra-position conduct.

In-role behavior encompasses all actions pertaining to the worker’s job description. To assess performance quickly, managers can ask questions based on the following statements and have them voiced back to them by the immediate manager.

Employee meets the process’s objectives
Employee fulfils performance expectations.
Employee meets all of the process’s requirements

The second point to mention is extra-position behaviour. Extra-position behaviours are any activities that go above and beyond the definition of the task. This involves aiding coworkers, arranging team activities, and other responsibilities.

When one employee is absent, they delegate their task to other employees.
When their workload rises, a worker permits others to do so (assists others till they recover from the hurdles)
Employees volunteer to execute tasks that are not technically underlined by the employment.

The management can analyse the worker’s performance on each factor based on the scores of those behaviours.

Also Read: How To Conduct Performance Appraisal For Remote Employees

Effectiveness of Performance Appraisal

In the past, employee performance evaluation followed a formal, top-down approach that hindered its effectiveness. Evaluations were conducted sporadically throughout the year without clear justification, and employees were assigned scores based on their Key Result Areas (KRAs). A record from SHRM states that 95% of managers aren’t happy with their company’s annual overall performance appraisal process. In fact, as referred to in a record through Towers Watson, 75% of personnel consider that appraisals are unfair.

Hence, it is necessary to restructure conventional performance appraisals to be employee-centric. Employee experience, private growth, and professional improvement are all visible factors that drive worker engagement and productivity.

Thoughts on the Effectiveness of Performance Appraisal System

Appraisals can assist your organization to improve worker engagement and retention. With a powerful performance appraisal system, you can pull off annual appraisals and behavior-common performance reviews.

According to Forbes, the conventional yearly assessment method is giving way to increasing realtime interactions among staff and managers.

Do comprehensive overall performance assessments and recognise top performers as an activity. With appropriate reviews, employees can reach their full potential. In reality, managers must ensure that the performance evaluation method is free of prejudice and errors. Then employees would also be more open to it.

In addition, clear communication of work expectations to employees and equipping them with the essential tools, training, and support to enhance job performance is crucial. By taking these actions, employees will experience greater job satisfaction and motivation to continually improve their performance. Ultimately, a well-designed performance appraisal process plays a pivotal role in cultivating a highly engaged and appreciative workforce, fostering a deep commitment to accomplishing organizational goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What are the top tips for managers to implement an effective performance appraisal?

Ans. To implement an effective performance appraisal, managers should establish clear goals, provide regular feedback, encourage employee self-assessment, offer development opportunities, and ensure fairness in evaluations.

6 Effective Coaching Strategies to Improve Team Performance

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

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

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

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

Here are the 6 Effective Coaching Strategies:

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

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

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

Also Read: Develop New Leadership Roles With Coaching and Mentoring

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

Continuously improve your coaching skills

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

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

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

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

Identify areas where performance needs improvement

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Collaborate with your team members

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

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

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

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

Combine different coaching methods

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

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

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

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

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

Collect feedback to customize your coaching

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

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

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

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

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

Establish performance set points

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

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

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

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

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

Also Read: Does Your Organization Need Coaching or Mentoring?

Conclusion

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

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

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

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is coaching?

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

Q2. What is an effective coaching strategy?

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

Q3. Why do we need an effective coaching strategy?

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

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

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

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

What is a Task Management System?

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

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

Who’s it for?

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

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

Why do you need to manage tasks?

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

Ensures you complete all high-priority tasks

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

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

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

Increases productivity

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

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

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

Helps you meet deadlines

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

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

How to manage tasks?

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

Let’s explore how you can do it.

Create a to-do list

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

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

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

Try a Kanban board tool

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

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

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

Get a task management tool

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

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

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

Why do you need a task management tool?

Task management software has the following benefits.

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

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

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

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

How to choose the right task management software?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Maintain efficiency with task management

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

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

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

Frequently Asked Questions

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

Ans. Here are the overall benefits of task management:

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

Q2. How to manage tasks?

Ans. Organize tasks efficiently with these simple steps:

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

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

Author: Grace Lau – Director of Growth Content, Dialpad

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

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

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

Also Read: Best Employee Engagement Strategies for a Better Workplace

Ideas to Welcome Back Employees

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

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

1. Host an Interactive Session

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

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

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

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

2. Send Them Goodies

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

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

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

3. Give Employees Time to Settle Down

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

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

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

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

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

4. Don’t Be Strict with Timings

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

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

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

5. Organize a Team-Building Event

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

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

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

Over to You

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

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

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

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

Q2. What is a good welcome message?

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

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

Author: Saurabh Sharma

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

Peer Learning: 6 Benefits of Collaboration in the Workplace

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

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

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

What is Peer-to-peer Learning?

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

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

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

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

Image source

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

How peer-to-peer learning works:

Peer learning happens in a group or pairs.

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

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

Also Read: 6 Tips on How to Upskill Employees Successfully

How Can Your Company Benefit From Peer Learning?

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

Let’s look at the best of them.

1. Save Budget

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

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

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

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

2. Engage Team Experts in Knowledge Sharing

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

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

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

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

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

3. Improve Company Culture

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

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

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

The same thing goes for each of your company values.

4. Build Learning Retention

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

Image source

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

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

5. Onboard New Employees

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

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

The fix?

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

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

6. Improve Team Performance

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

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

Summary

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

Frequently Asked Questions

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

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

Q2. What are the characteristics of peer learning?

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

Q3. What are the 3 important skills for collaboration?

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

This article is written by Julia Serdiuk.

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

Unique Ways to Support Wellness in the Workplace

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

Promote Exercise

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

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

Also Read: Workplace Wellbeing Questionnaire: Best Practices & Questions

Watch Out for Screens

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

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

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

Mandated PTO

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

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

Remote (Option)

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

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

Champion Mental Health

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

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

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

Provide Recognition

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

Reinvent Your Hours

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

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

Also Read: Dealing With Mental Health In The Workplace

Support Parents

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

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

Wrap-Up

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Why is wellness important in the workplace?

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

Q2. What are the 5 components of wellness?

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

Q3. What do you mean by employee wellness?

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

You Received Negative Performance Review, What Next?

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

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

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

Rating-Based Performance Reviews Don’t Measure Performance Accurately

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

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

30+ Smart Performance Review Questions For Employees

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.

Also read: What Is A Performance Management System

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.

4. Help Them Understand The Current Role

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?

Performance Review Questions: Manager-Employee Relationship

Is there any instance where did not get enough support from the manner?
Do you require more personalized feedback on the performance?
Are there any suggestions you would like to put forward to make our relationship better?
Do you think you get enough recognition for your work?
Would like to receive feedback, in-person or virtual?

Conclusion

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.

Action Words For Performance Reviews: The Good, Bad, and Ugly

For many of us, the very thought of reviewing someone’s performance fills us with dread.

Continue reading “Action Words For Performance Reviews: The Good, Bad, and Ugly”

5 Mobile Learning Ideas to Improve Employee Performance

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.

Also Read: How an LMS makes HR Tasks Simpler and Easier?

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.

Also Read: 5 Inspiring Examples of Coaching And Mentoring in the Workplace

Encourage Peer-to-Peer Learning

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.

How Inclusive Leadership Boosts Employee Engagement And Performance

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.

Also Read: Demonstrating Effective Leadership In the Workplace

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.

6 Ways Inclusive Leadership Helps to Boost Employee Engagement & Performance

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.

Conclusion

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.

Step 1: Understand your needs

1. Talk to HR

Also Read: 9 Progressive HR Approaches from HR Professionals

2. Budget Constraints

3. Organizational Goals

Also Read: 7 Reasons Why Goal Setting Is Important

4. Use a trial or demo version.

5. Note the features you want

Basic features

Also Read: What Is A Performance Management System?

Step 2: Consider Technical Aspects

1. Compatibility with existing systems

2. Employee adaptation

Also Read: 8 Steps To Effective Employee Surveys

3. UI – UX or Interface design

4. Hosting

Step 3: Consider long-term viability

1. Customer Support

2. Scalability and flexibility

3. Longevity

Conclusion

Also Read: 7 Reasons Why Goal Setting Is Important

How to Prepare for Department Goals?

How to Set SMART Goals?

Also Read: How to Implement SMART Employee Goal Setting in Your Company

Strategies to Define SMART Business Goals

SWOT Analysis

Set and Achieve Goals per the Department

Also Read: 7 Steps to Setting Workplace Goals and Making Them Happen

1. HR Department Goals

2. Marketing Department Goals

3. Sales Department Goals

Key Points to Note Before Setting Department Goals

Setting Achievable Goals for Work-Life Balance

Get Clarity on the Team Structure

Focus on Coordination Among the Team

Consider the Big Picture

Also Read: How to Set the Right Employee Development Goals

Compare Goals with Your To-Do List

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How do SMART goals help with professionalism?

Q2. What is the need for the strategy for goals?

Q3. Which strategy can help in achieving business goals?

What Is Calibration in Performance Reviews?

Also read: Introducing A Performance Management Tool In Your Organization

The Role of HR in Performance Calibration

Ensuring Consistency

Aligning Employee-Employer Goals

Maintaining Review Cycles

Training Managers

Tracking Standardization

Steps Involved in Calibration of Performance Reviews

Define Specific Criteria

Train Managers

Also read: Performance Appraisal Checklist for Managers and Employees

Conduct Calibration Meetings

Also read: Performance Calibration Meetings: Everything You Need To Know

Encourage Ongoing Feedback

Communicate Feedback

Importance of Performance Reviews Calibration Process

Fair Ratings

Also read: 9 Ways To Tackle Unconscious Bias At Work

Employee Engagement

Also read: Best Employee Engagement Strategies for Better Workplace

Enhanced Communication

Better Decision-Making

Also read: 5 Reasons To Start Using An HR Management Software For Your Business!

Summing Up

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What do the 3 R’s of performance management refer to?

Q2. What is the difference between KPIs and KRAs?

Q3. Can managers have their rating scale for appraising an employee’s performance?

Employee Well-Being = Thriving Company Performance

Also read: The Complete Guide To Employee Health And Wellbeing Strategy

Physical and Mental Health Must Come First

Also read: Wellbeing At Work – The Remote Edition [Infographic]

Flexibility Is the Name of the Game

Experiments Show That Less May Be More

Also read: Employee Happiness: 12 Ways To Keep Employees Happy

Embracing Technology Is More Than Just Being Trendy