Month: November 2018

Employees are now a young, vibrant, mobile set – ready to work from anywhere, across various timelines & locations. We believe it’s time for ‘Change’ across the organizational matrix, ensuring – Effectiveness, Speed, and a more Intelligent working model.

But then, how do you get there?

Do you dive in head-long without a strategy, a plan, or a gradual implementation pathway? Or, do you begin by introducing smarter systems at the very basic level – making change, not just an eventuality – but a part of engagement & experience management.

We believe in the latter, and have ideas – tools & trends that can ‘Transform’ without a glitch, a snag, or a tear in business-as-usual.

Here are a series of tips & tools that can pave the path for enhanced employee engagement:

1. Weekly Feedbacks

Weekly meetings must be held at the end or the beginning of the week to constantly stay updated, connected and well-informed. These meetings are essential, as they help collate valuable feedback, and give corrective performance evaluation reports.

All the concerned team members get together, either at the beginning or at the end of the week, to assess and ascertain the tasks which have been delegated & accomplished in the previous week, while aligning the activities for the following days. Valuable feedback on employee performance and workplace grievance is also shared, to further throw light on the on-going system.

2. Build an Organized Work Ecosystem

Various engagement tools are used to streamline the team’s activities, and align other processes for better coordination, enhanced efficiency, and unbiased & transparent delegation of responsibility. Some of the engagement work tools include, Trello & Slack. Their intuitive design and easy-to-use dashboard make remote work a cakewalk.

3. Rewards & Recognition

Continuous feedback and performance acknowledgement is a crucial part of employee engagement. Everyone loves being praised, and their work being appreciated in front of their co-workers/teammates. Arrange for bi-weekly sessions, wherein, all the team members collect together and each of them are called up and applauded for their hard work and contribution to the organization. This will encourage them to work twice as hard, and reach their ultimate potential.

Performance appraisals also play a significant role in boosting or pulling down the morale of an employee. A company’s performance appraisal structure should be designed in a fashion which ensures every employee is given the appraisal they deserve. This reduces the employee attrition rate, while encouraging the rest to carry out their responsibilities in the best way possible.

4. Enterprise-wide transparency

Establish clear lines of communication between all employees and managers. Provide employees all the information they need, and address their grievances if any. Lay the foundation for enterprise-wide transparency, and empower your workforce to use their discretion to take better & quicker decisions in the long run.

5. Engagement Activities

Work can get monotonous after sometime. In order to overcome workplace monotony, the HR team can conduct several engagement activities where employees and staff members are allowed to showcase their talent. From dancing & singing to setting up the platform for simulating games – these help employees escape the mundane workload and free their minds from the intricacies that their jobs involve.

All these tools and activities, combined together, will help improve the performance level of the entire workforce while driving positive growth in the organization.

Source: http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/article-details/next-generation-employee-engagement-tools https://www.business.com/articles/scott-gerber-employee-engagement-tools/ https://blog.impraise.com/360-feedback/5-tools-to-increase-employee-engagement-performance-review https://slack.com/about

Today, HR departments must go beyond merely checking the right boxes and maintaining the status quo. As a new generation of professionals disrupts workplaces across the world and groundbreaking collaboration models go mainstream, it’s important to question existing processes.

• Are job boards the ideal medium for attracting top talent?
• Can outmoded IT infrastructure handle ‘anytime, anywhere’ workloads?
• Is the pen-and-whiteboard approach to project management, a good fit for the digital workforce?
• And, can HR teams successfully win over the average millennial who’s always looking for greener pastures?

The answer lies in innovation coupled with pragmatic implementation – out-of-the-box ideas, that are geared for real-world outcomes. Even as solutions providers push the envelope, employers are forging strategic partnerships – with an eye on quantifiable results.

Every year, millennial turnover costs the US economy around $30.5 billion. Over 60% of this segment is open to changing positions at any given time, reporting low engagement levels, consistently. To turn this picture on its head, it’s essential to delve into core HR pain-points and identify emerging tools that could resolve them.

1. Remove hiring inefficiencies: Geofencing is key to a well-defined candidate pool

One of recruitment’s biggest challenges is cutting through the noise/clutter. With hundreds of applicants for every post, yet only a few actually suited for the role, recruiters face the problem of ‘too much and too little’ – at the same time. Geofencing combines GPS, individual data, and radio frequency information to push mobile notifications. The technology could be deployed for many use cases (traditionally a retail industry favorite), and it’s starting to find traction in the HR community.

Here’s how it works: the employer buys access to online profiles and information lists, and then sets up a ‘geofence’ in places frequented by candidates. On entering the area, a potential employee would receive an alert, immediately.

The essence of geofencing is to place the right job, in front of the right candidate, at just the right time. For job seekers, this translates into seamless yet targeted delivery, and a higher success rate.

2. Secure processes: Facial recognition prevents fraudulent activities for large, global workforces

Initially a consumer-facing technology, facial recognition is fast finding its way into business applications. Facial recognition could simplify any task that relies on authentication or individual approvals – payroll, for instance, demands high accuracy and security. Managers signing off on bonuses, reimbursement claims, or deductions have to be extremely precise, ensuring an almost ‘watertight’ pipeline.

A facial recognition check-in place would remove manual dependencies, as the technology validates identity and ratifies transactions automatically.

Another impact area could be attendance and leave management – systems are now migrating from legacy paper-based models, to biometric check-ins. The next leap would be facial recognition, where the system scans the employee’s face, recording attendance and validating access permissions at one go.

3. Engage employees: Voice bots aid in connectivity, responsiveness

Text-driven chatbots are a CRM essential: the cornerstone of customer engagement and online interaction management. HR chatbots bring the same sense of availability to workplace exchanges. Given current engagement metrics – only 33% workers feeling truly engaged – voice bots could prove to be invaluable in boosting morale and building communication pathways. The traditional chatbot is text-based – a round-the-clock HR extension that assists employees, sets reminders, provides information, and much more. This is particularly relevant for new hires, making it easier to navigate the waters after onboarding.

Translated to voice-triggered systems, these could become the ‘go-to’ platform in a number of scenarios – blue-collar workers handling machinery, for instance, or remote sales representatives, when driving.

4. Enable mobility: Advanced tech is a ‘must-have’ for the gig economy

Contemporary workforces are no longer limited to a consolidated team working from one location – contingent workers, third-party partnerships, and strategic/temp hires are critical to business outcomes. In addition, the preference for BYOD (bring your own device) makes mobile support vital for HR frameworks.

All systems, therefore, must embrace ‘mobility’ as an integral factor – talent acquisition, spend management, attendance, payroll, all reimagined for better UX (user experience), on the go. Automation, employee self-service portals, and AI platforms that predict user needs, intuitively, are all part of this revolution.

5. Revisit the foundations: Blockchain uses P2P networks to accelerate processes

Blockchain distributes functions among several computing nodes, mitigating dependencies on a single point and extending access to multiple data sources. Its most popular application is for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Compensation in cryptocurrency format could help differentiate employers in a competitive landscape, its dynamic nature holding special appeal for millennial candidates.

Beyond payroll, the fundamental ‘decentralization’ methodology can be woven into a range of core HR tasks including applicant screening and digital contracts. Blockchain-based job portals, for example, could automate eligibility checks across disparate referrals, with near-zero manual intervention.

Making Change the New Normal and Technology, a Conduit for the ‘Good & the Profound’

The workplace is now more than an operational hub for next-gen employees, and HR teams must be equipped to enable, engage, and empower workers – ensuring businesses can achieve greater heights. What’s needed is a complete process rethink – pivoted on technology, intersecting organizational efficiency with a flexible work environment.

The latest breed of tech tools offer not just fresh ideas: they promise system efficiencies, happier employees, and a visible impact on the bottom-line. Defining a smart deployment plan that taps into best-fit solutions, is the obvious next step towards building a rich, rewarding, meaningful, and intelligent workplace.

A business enterprise undergoes several process-specific, digital remedies over their journey. In this blog, we will explore the trend that focuses on digitally transforming the front-office operations to bring about organizational success, in the long-run.

Automation starts from your front-desk

The trailblazers of the digital era have proved to us, time and again, that by focusing our attention on the front office first, we lay the foundation for long-term success. The latest study conducted by Cognizant Center for the Future of Work reveals, “By applying digital remedies to precisely targeted process areas, organizations can relieve operational stress and generate improvements, yielding outsized results that ripple across the process value chain.”

The key organizational benefits can be reaped only by revolutionizing the customer-facing, employee-engaging & front-office processes. In other words, the biggest break to kindle positive change lies in implementing and executing a focused digital remedy to bridge the gap between the organization and its customers & staff members.

Some of the front office transformations that drive connectivity and enhance engagement between the business unit and its direct stakeholders include:

Employee Satisfaction

Front-office automation ensures employee satisfaction, and boosts employee engagement. Once all the systems have been centralized to generate accurate, unified reports, right from the front-desk – life becomes a lot easier for the entire workforce, as a whole.

Employee check-in/check-out scenario

With the help of front-office installations, staff members can now view their timestamps, and scrutinize the number of hours clocked from their own device, anytime, anywhere.

Attendance, Leave & Shift Management

They can also check their daily attendance, download weekly rosters, apply for leaves, and get a clear understanding of the changing shifts and time-slots.

Customer-friendly & Visitor Ease

Bridging the gap between employer & employee is not enough to achieve the long-term goals of an organization. A lot can be done to establish smooth lines of communication with the customers/visitors. Automation of the front-office paves the path for error-free, secured processes, centralized data-sources, & enhances overall clarity.

Quick Verifications

When a client/customer visits, they are seamlessly registered in through a series of hassle-free, digital processes. The front-desk operates on its own, capturing the name, contact details, photograph, and time of arrival & exit of the visitor(s). They are soon escorted in to meet their contact person. Smart Meetings

Instead of hiring new resources who conduct administrative tasks, such as, calling, checking for free dates in calendars, and setting up meetings – companies can now complete these activities at the touch of a finger. With automated front-office operations, systems can now do what earlier required humans to do. These installations help find suitable time-slots, set-up meetings, send instant alerts to the meeting holder & attendee(s), and efficiently end the meetings by sending notifications to all stakeholders, and by freeing calendar timeslots.

Now, it is time for you to witness and be a part of this digital journey, as you automate and revolutionize your front-office processes to bring about overall workplace transformation.

Sources: https://www.everestgrp.com/2018-05-digital-transformation-front-back-office-operations-using-next-generation-workforce-market-insights-44596.html/