Guide to Lead: Enhance your Leadership Ability

Managing the workforce since the adoption of the new normal has become quite challenging.

Diverse teams and organizations worldwide have started to adopt agile methodology into their workflow and for a good reason.

Agile helps them react quickly to changes, meet deadlines rapidly, and improve customer satisfaction.

More recently, the Learning and Development industry has started embracing agility in its eLearning development process after observing the impact of the Agile methodology in the software industry.

Below are some of the observed effects of the change:

• Faster delivery of products: continuous collaboration between developers and clients
• Higher business value: products developed through agile have better product-market fit
• Improved resource allocation: minimized loss because of qualitative analysis
• Better customer satisfaction: the customer is a part of the development process

By observing the trend, adopting agile has become the number 1 priority of many management departments of several organizations.

However, there is a lot of difference between "being agile" and "doing agile."

Unfortunately, many workforces have become pseudo-agile. The reason is copying the practices of another organization, possibly their competitors', and applying them to their organization.

In this brief article, let's dive a bit deeper into how workflow efficiency could be improved by suitably adopting agile.

Being Agile The Right Way

To get the outcomes that the agile methodology promises, it is crucial to understand each of the agile principles in depth. Adoption of agility becomes easier only when its core ideas are understood in the context of your own industry.

1. Individuals And Interactions Over Processes And Tools

Your organization has a plethora of legacy processes and predefined workflows. Rather than focusing on making the procedures predictable, prioritize the needs of the teams that deal with these procedures.

Processes and tools are essential to get work done; however, they need not be rigid.

If some employees feel that they should choose a different software and with good reason, let them.

Effect

Valuing individuals and interactions more will result in higher employee motivation. As a result, they would produce higher performance.

Moreover, it instills accountability and ownership in the employees in a positive way.

2. Working Software Over Comprehensive Documentation

Comprehensive documentation helps both the parties, the developers, and clients be well informed about the product.

However, if the documentation is way too long and complicated, no one ends up reading it at all.

For instance, while signing up for any digital product, we rarely put any effort into reading the terms and conditions, user manual, and privacy policy.

Most organizations get too concerned about creating documentation rather than creating a product that fits their clients' needs clearly in many cases.

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It will help the employees manage their resources better and focus on customer satisfaction resulting in improved employee efficiency.

3. Customer Collaboration Over Contract Negotiation

Rather than viewing your end-user, client, or customer as a separate entity with whom you conduct business, consider collaborating with them.

It will help the developers understand their needs better and get better reviews and feedback while testing the prototype.

Effect

Since the developers and creators will have a better idea of what to create, they will build their product faster.

Moreover, it will fill the void that their customer has and increase the team's business value.

4. Responding To Change Over Following A Plan

A plan of action is vital for the completion of a task, let alone an entire project.

However, a rigid plan which is irresponsive to external feedback and reviews is not fruitful at all.

After a week, suppose the development team realizes that the product is not a suitable fit. In that case, they should consider pivoting rather than continuing the same path.

Effect

Higher rate of success for the product and proper resource allocation. Responding to change also helps in minimizing surprise bugs and issues.

Potential Hurdles

While transitioning your workflow and product development process into agile, there will be numerous challenges that can make it more difficult.

Mistakes while transitioning to agile are pretty common and could be very costly in terms of time, money, and employee motivation. There are a lot of differences between "being agile" and "doing agile."

• Focus on the entire process: If just the product development phase is agile. If management continues to operate traditionally, achieving the necessary results will be hard. All of the processes need to be agile and end-to-end.
• Employees' knowledge: All team members should be aware of the overall process and know their impact. It will help them to stay motivated and communicate effectively with each other.
• Don't mimic other industries: It may seem easier to copy whatever your competitors are doing to get the same effect. Although copying the principle is not bad, but mimicking the practices may not be a good idea.
• Complete understanding of your existing processes: Current teams, structures, workflows, and processes should be understood in depth before suggesting or even applying changes that would make the process agile.
• Patience is crucial: Being agile means the entire organization should focus on making small and steady changes depending on new projects and changing conditions. Agility should be maintained after it's achieved.

Conclusion

Adoption of agility is also to be done the agile way.

Once the existing infrastructure and processes are carefully understood, it is easier to implement new things.

It is also essential to keep in mind the challenges and change your approach once it is confirmed that it is not yielding the desired result.

Agile practices make the workforce flexible and the employees more resourceful. It truly is the way to get better results.

However, it is also to be understood that the effects of the change won't be observed overnight.

For example, end-of-the-day meetings are a great way to exchange ideas.

But if they are made mandatory irrespective of the need, it becomes a dull affair. Understanding the changing conditions and molding the process based on that is the right way to become agile.

Tarasekhar is a SaaS marketer for zipBoard who also loves to create content on trending topics. Whenever he is not busy with his work, he loves to read history and catch up on Formula 1. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com.

People wouldn't be able to do half of what they are doing to achieve success if they weren't motivated. Motivation is what fuels the body and mind to complete a task. But, you can't control intrinsic motivation when it comes to inspiring your employees. At this point, Extrinsic motivation will take center stage.

Extrinsic motivation is prompted in an individual by giving them external rewards. These rewards could be anything like money, praise, assets, paid leaves, etc.

They serve as a source of external inspiration to keep your employees motivated and efficient.

According to a survey cited by Springworks, 46% of HR leaders consider employee retention to be their biggest concern.

During current times, most companies have shifted to work from home culture, thanks to the pandemic! It has not just impacted productivity but also the mental health of employees. Employees are left feeling more alienated, stressed, and lonely.

Thus, employee motivation has become a crucial factor. Here, Extrinsic motivation plays a vital role in keeping employees motivated. Along with that, it also helps in maintaining a healthy work culture.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. But here's a twist. All work and no motivation makes Jack an unhappy employee too.

According to another survey by Clutch, 66% of employees who receive rewards are satisfied with them. This shows what an important role external rewards play in an organization.

Chapter 1

Extrinsic Motivation: How Did The Idea Start?

As per Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation, there are two factors that an organization can fine-tune to uplift people. It holds true not only for an organization but for individuals too. The two factors are- Satisfiers and Hygiene factors.

Satisfiers are the internal motivators like- a sense of belonging, pride, freedom, etc.

Similarly, the hygiene factor includes external motivators such as working conditions, pay, external rewards, praise, etc.

Extrinsic motivators are part of Herzberg’s hygiene factors.

Extrinsic motivation is also explained through Maslow's Theory of Motivation. These fall in the lower level of Maslow's Pyramid.

Also read: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in Employee Engagement (Pre and Post Covid-19)

It acts as a catalyst in completing a mundane and tedious task. This is what we term Extrinsic motivation.

Chapter 2

What Is Extrinsic Motivation?

On many occasions, we find people uninterested and unenthusiastic about their work. It happens more with the employees engaged in activities without a dynamic work environment.

People feel drained and burned out when a monotonous work schedule creeps in. They show very little interest in completing a task. This leads to lesser productivity and eventually an increase in employee turnover.

When we keep repeating the same work every day, our brain becomes accustomed to following a regular work schedule. It prepares itself to function in the same way. We stop caring when there isn't any new challenge in front of us. We are simply putting on a show.

At times like these, external factors or motivators come to the rescue.

As humans, we are drawn towards feeling valued. We are more passionate about a piece of work if it comes with a reward.

But wait. That is not all.

Extrinsic motivation is not simply confined to getting the work done. Often it is about avoiding unwanted situations too.

Let's look at an example- An employee will work hard to finish a job on time when he knows there will be severe consequences if he doesn't. These consequences will act as a motivation for the employee. He will want to avoid it at any cost and thus finish the work on time.

It does not mean he enjoys it but, it is necessary to avoid the unwanted outcome. This becomes an extrinsic motivator too!

It is mainly practiced by Transactional leaders, who use a dynamic system of rewards and penalties to keep the employees motivated.

Chapter 3

Extrinsic Motivation v/s Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation comes from within you and is powered by your own dreams, aspirations, wants, and wishes
- Joanna Jast

Both Extrinsic and Intrinsic factors are crucial in keeping one motivated. But, to utilize them effectively, let's have a look at where they differ-

Chapter 4

Relationship Between Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation

With more research into the topic and diversity in views, their relation keeps growing more intricate. For example- Ryan and Deci have defined both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation as two separate entities.

But, they also suggested that the same factor may enhance intrinsic motivation by promoting feelings of self-determination. Harackiewicz and Sansone indicated that the same extrinsic motivators also influence feelings of self-motivation.

In contrast, Lepper and Henderlong suggested that both Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation can operate simultaneously.

You can also read: [Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation- The search for optimal motivation and performance by Carol S and Judith M.]

A current study of both kinds of motivation examined their individuality and also analyzed the relationship between them. A study by Bateman & Crant; 2003, Lepper, Corpus, & Iyengar; 2005 have addressed this issue. They found that no remarkable negative relationship between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation has been observed.

Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation are both different phenomena used in different situations to aim for various objectives. But the best approach is to be able to use them simultaneously.

Chapter 5

Can Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Co-exist?

Yes, they can co-exist, but the key is to balance the two against each other. This is the most challenging part.

Rather than considering them as two different entities, you must consider them as two sides of the same coin.

However, this balance will depend on the task at hand too. It will not be possible to balance both types of motivation in every job.

Balancing it will maximize the motivation level of your employees. For example- An employee wants a promotion not just for more challenging work but also for increased pay. This will maximize his potential as both the motivations will be at work.

Chapter 6

Is Extrinsic Motivation Bad?

Let's face it. Too much of anything is bad. Just like anything else, both these motivation types have got their fair share of pros and cons too!

Extrinsic motivation is not bad, but continuous usage will make an employee rely too much on rewards. It may backfire by reducing the motivation in employees when they are not rewarded.

Certain psychologists also state that increasing the dependency on a reward will make the employees lose their inherent interest.

Having said that, lack of Extrinsic motivation will not help either. Sometimes it can also help in breaking the initial friction to develop into intrinsic motivation eventually.

For example- an employee might not know his/her interest in coding until given a project to complete. The initial approach towards it will be to conclude the task for the given extrinsic motivators. But in due course, it will become an activity where the employee will find interest.

Tip- The answer is to find a balance!

Goals power extrinsic motivation, and goal-centric behavior focuses more on relevant tasks, thereby increasing productivity.

Chapter 7

Motivation In The Corporate World

With rising global prosperity, technology and digitalization are diffusing into every industry. With machines doing human work, the advent of artificial intelligence, and cutthroat competition, corporate functioning has changed a great deal.

Businesses nowadays are far more different from what they used to be two decades back.

Modern corporations nowadays not just want productivity to be high but also to keep the employees highly motivated. It is proven that employees work at their highest capacity limit when they are satisfied.

Chapter 8

Role of People in Extrinsic Motivation

Apart from physical rewards, people play an important role in motivating employees too. Motivation can come from anyone. It can be your managers, peers, senior leaders, or anyone in the organization.

Managers can appreciate an employee or offer a spot reward for a good piece of work. These are small gestures but can bring an immense amount of motivation to an employee.

Appreciation by peers can also be a source of motivation for an employee. An employee spends most of the time during their job with their peers. Positive feedback from them will create a healthy peer-to-peer relationship as well as keep your employee motivated. Hence, this is also a great source of motivation.

Chapter 9

Advantages and Disadvantages of Extrinsic Motivation

A few advantages of extrinsic motivation are-

• Increase Productivity

When your employees are aware of a reward, they will be more interested in the work. As a result, there will be a significant increase in productivity.

• Less Absenteeism and Turnover

Employee satisfaction on the job is directly proportional to less absenteeism. When your employees are content at work, they will enjoy coming to the office. Thus, they are less likely to be absent, and the turnover will reduce significantly.

Also read: The HR Professionals Guide to Employee Absenteeism

• Induces Goal-Oriented Behavior

When you announce a reward, your employees get one step closer to achieving their goals. They will have a direction to work towards it. This will induce in them a goal-oriented behavior, and they will be more purposeful.

• Healthy Workplace Culture

Happy employees will constantly improve your workplace culture. A toxic work environment will create bitter relations among your employees. This will, in return, hamper your productivity to a great extent.

Also read: Workplace Culture: Its Misconceptions and Important Aspects

• Better Employee-Employer Relations

When your employees are happy with you, they will be more enthusiastic and driven to work for you. They will have a positive approach towards the company and the job, which is beneficial in the long run.

Also read: Importance Of Employer Employee Relationship In Companies

A few disadvantages of extrinsic motivation are-

• Reduces Intrinsic Motivation

Just like the quote goes, too many external rewards will make your employees get used to it. It will, in turn, reduce the internal drive to perform better. They will be more dependent on rewards and will reduce productivity without them.

Also read: 5 Factors That Restore The Power Of Intrinsic Motivation In The Workplace

• Does Not Create Passion

Continuous use of Extrinsic rewards will make your employees impassionate. They will grow to dislike their jobs and only do the bare minimum. The quality of work eventually decreases.

• Rewards Should Grow

If you are extrinsically motivating someone, the reward values must keep scaling up. For example- giving a gift card every time will not work as the employees will get used to it. Therefore, there should be constant revamping of the rewards. Timely and surprise rewards boost more productivity than the same set of rewards.

Chapter 10

Types of Extrinsic Motivation

In more detail, Extrinsic motivation can be categorized into four types-

External Regulation

In external regulation, the behavior is controlled by external rewards. You will see that an employee will perform best when they are promised a 10% bonus. The apparent bonus governs the employee's behavior, and he performs well to get it.

Although the employee's behavior is not entirely unintentional, the activity is controlled by the external reward.

When great rewards are attached to great efforts, the employees are motivated to work harder. Even if the work is tedious, the employees will put in their best effort to complete it.
Thus, the behavior is externally regulated.

Introjected Regulation

In introjected regulation, the behavior is more internalized than external. But, it is not the same as intrinsic motivation. While in intrinsic motivation, there is an inherent interest in the work. In introjected regulation, the underlying emotions are feelings of avoiding shame, guilt, etc.

It inspires you to reinforce a behavior not because you want to. But, it is because you want to avoid the inner feeling of guilt or shame. This feeling is the backbone that pushes you to do the work.

It will make your employees stressed about the work. This will result in burnout and worry. It is practiced mainly by micromanagers creating a slightly tricky working environment.

Regulation Through Identification

In regulation, through identification, an employee can identify the importance of their task. And thus act towards it.

With this motivation, your employees will value the task at hand and believe that it is beneficial. It is not backed by a feeling of guilt or shame and immediate rewards. They will genuinely believe that the task or behavior will favor them and are motivated to work towards it.

For example- Companies relocating employees to a remote location for six months on a crucial project. The employees will know that it will expedite their promotion, which they really want. This will make them value their task, and they will be more motivated even though they have to relocate.

Integrated Regulation

In integrated regulation, the behavior is backed by self-introspection and by understanding one's beliefs and values. It is self-motivation that is fully optimized.

By this point, one understands their external motivational needs and correlates them with their beliefs and values. Every decision made is not backed by guilt but by reason. Your employee will know exactly why they want to do the task, and it will not be imposed.

Chapter 11

Examples of Extrinsic Motivation

To give you a better idea, here are a few very simple and easy-to-understand examples of Extrinsic motivation.

• Workers in a factory are working overtime to get more bonus.

• Employee working on a tedious project for the most-awaited promotion.

• An employer praising his employee for good performance.

• An employee is completing a project on time for the performance hike.

These are a few examples to give you a basic idea of how Extrinsic motivation pushes you to complete a particular task in a workplace.

Chapter 12

Types of Extrinsic Rewards

Not all extrinsic rewards are the same. It's high time for us to learn their traits. Let us have a look at them!

Tangible Rewards

Tangible rewards are the ones that have a physical and measurable attribute. They are also called external rewards.

For example- a manager rewards an employee for his outstanding performance at work. He does this by giving him a gift card or giving away gadgets like laptops, mobile phones, etc.

Intangible Rewards

These are the rewards that do not have a physical form. They can be recognition or praise, which cannot be measured but are external rewards.

Further Extrinsic rewards also include Financial and Non-Financial rewards. Although intrinsic rewards are exclusively non-financial, extrinsic rewards can be either.

Financial Extrinsic Rewards are the ones that assign a monetary value or that can enhance the economic condition. They can be pension benefits, paid leaves, etc.

However, Non-Financial Rewards do not have any financial value assigned to them. They are benefits that enhance an employees' work life, such as health benefits, club benefits, etc.

Yet, they do not have any monetary value attached to them.

Chapter 13

Extrinsic Motivation and Employee Retention

To get a practical idea of how difficult it is to maintain employee retention in an organization, let us take the help of a few statistics.

(Sources: Glassdoor, Hartford Business, Accessperks)

Also read: 10 Eye-opening Employee Retention Statistics You Should Take Note Of.

To be precise, the retention of employees is more difficult than hiring them. With companies evolving constantly, a wide range of possible alternatives are emerging too. An employee would not hesitate to move into a better position with better pay.

Hence, maintaining a healthy company culture and keeping the employees motivated is of utmost importance in today's workplaces.

It gives your company a better employee retention rate and leads to a manifold increase in productivity.

This is how employee motivation goes in hand with employee retention.

Chapter 14

Motivation and Employee Efficiency

Apart from increasing the overall performance, you should also keep in mind the individual efficiency of an employee. When your employees are skilled, they are more efficient. However, only being skilled but not motivated will compromise your productivity too. Therefore, one must never undervalue motivation!

Your employee doesn't just want job security but also quality employment, better opportunities, and recognition in the organization. Without motivation, you will see a rapid decline in productivity and work efficiency. This will not just hamper individual goals but your organization's goals too.

A motivated employee will work twice as hard and find themselves working for a more significant cause than just for the salary. If your employees can line their satiation for success with the company's overall agenda for growth. In that case, it benefits both them and your company.

If motivation in your employees is low, there will be a rapid rise in inefficiency. Employees will be engrossed in their phones, distracted, and largely unfocused.

On the flip side, motivated employees will be more focused and work-driven. They will not just be an asset to your organization but will grow individually too. Whether your company is well established or a start-up, motivation is equally important at every level.

As we have seen, there are many benefits linked to motivation. But is it costly?

The answer is no. It does not cost a fortune, and sometimes it can be done even for free. A simple word of praise to employees after the day's work can work wonders for them. They will feel that all the day's toil was worth something.

These small things can go a long way and make the employee like their workplace. They would want to work in a place where their hard work is appreciated and rewarded.

Chapter 15

Extrinsic Motivation During Remote Work

With the current pandemic situation, most of the companies have resorted to remote work. It has come as both a boon and a bane for organizations.

Man is, by nature, a social animal. But, due to the pandemic and lockdown imposed worldwide, everyone is locked in their homes. This has taken a toll on everyone.

Employees who are used to working together are now working alone remotely. Keeping up your employee's morale and dealing with Covid-19 stress has become of utmost importance now.

With sales figures going down, lesser employee availability, and remote work, it is challenging for the leadership to maintain an optimistic attitude and keep employees engaged.

The only solution here to keep the employees uplifted is to provide great recognition and benefits. These fringe benefits and rewards will keep their moods lifted and motivate them to work even at home.

Although Covid-19 stress is inevitable, providing your employees with attractive benefits will take away the work anxiety for a while. It can also be put through as a placebo effect.

We are all living in difficult times, and any single effort right now will make a difference.

Read more: Amazing Virtual Employee Recognition Ideas to increase your employee productivity.

Chapter 16

Ways To Give Extrinsic Rewards to Boost Employee Motivation

There are multiple ways and types of rewards that can be given to your employees to increase productivity. Let us look at a few ways to add external rewards in the workplace that might boost up employee productivity.

1. Celebrate Them!

Yes, you read that right. Celebrate the employees. Be it someone's birthday, Mother's Day, or work anniversary.

Every person deserves to feel special. A small token or a gesture could make someone's day too.

Sometimes, giving your employees a gift card or a small note thanking them for their tireless efforts could help you win them over.

The only thing employees want to know is that you care about them and their needs. These small gestures could go a very long way!!!!!

Recommended Article: 7 Terrific Office Birthday Celebration Ideas

2. Conduct Random Contests!

Who wants to work in a boring workplace, right? Why not occasionally spark joy? There could be a random scavenger hunt, a quick spell bee, or a small bingo game.

Conducting random contests and giving away hampers like small accessories, gadgets that the employees can use will seal the deal!

3. Include Family Packages

Now, a big concern that arises when a person starts working is work-life balance. Most people get stuck between an angry boss and a furious partner. Sounds familiar?

Well, how about you attach an attractive package for the employee and his family once he finishes the most tedious project? A Valentine's Day package for the couple or a family weekend getaway package. It is a win-win deal for both.

We lack both professionally and personally when we fail to maintain a proper work-life balance. The lack of support on the personal front does hamper our productivity at work. And being a good employer, you will have to keep a check on these to maintain a happy workspace.

At times, it is not about the salary. But it is also about how at-home employees feel while at work. And how compassionate you are with your employee's needs.

4. Give Employees Bonuses and Raise Whenever Possible!!

This obviously has to be in line with the organization's business, but the bonus is one of the significant extrinsic motivators. According to a survey by Glassdoor, on average, 35% of employees leave the job when they do not get a good raise. This is a pretty big number!!

Therefore, it becomes an essential aspect in maintaining employee retention.

5. Giveaways

Giveaways are a very classic and easy way to reward someone, which can also be used as a promotional tool. Through giveaways, the employee will not just accept the token of appreciation but will also advocate it on their social media. Again, Voila!

6. Make The Rewards Engrossing!

Nobody enjoys receiving monotonous incentives. As a result, it's essential to make sure that the incentives are unique.

To make the rewards more customized and engaging, you need to know your employees first. Once that is done, you can customize the rewards accordingly.

Let's say your employee is also a fitness enthusiast. Imagine the effort he will put in if he is rewarded for his work with a free diet plan. He will surely burn a few more calories at work to get the reward he desires!

He will not just complete the work. He will also be more productive, and there will be an added enthusiasm because of the attached extrinsic reward.

This is similar to how we promise kids at school to bring good grades in return for a new game. It helps in the workplace too!

Also read: 50 Rewards and Recognition Ideas to Boost Employee Recognition [2021 Updated]

Vantage Circle offers the best employee benefits with Vantage Rewards; schedule a free demo today!

7. A Word of Praise

An extremely feasible option is praising someone for their work. This costs absolutely nothing but goes a long way. A word of praise can simply make someone's day.

Especially during the pandemic times that we are living in, a single word of praise can do the job of a thousand rewards.

These will come in the category of intangible non-financial extrinsic motivators.

Also read: 50 Best Words of Appreciation for Employees You Can't Ignore

Chapter 17

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is extrinsic motivation?

Extrinsic motivation refers to the external motivation that is prompted in an individual by giving them external rewards.

2. What is an extrinsic reward?

It is a reward (tangible/intangible) that helps in motivating an individual to do a particular task.

3. What is an example of an extrinsic reward?

Praise, Fame, Good grades, Salary, Bonus, Gifts, etc.

4. What is the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation?

Extrinsic motivation is induced by an external reward, while intrinsic motivation is inherent in an individual. They perform the task not for the reward but for inner satisfaction. It makes them feel internally rewarding.

5. Who can give Extrinsic rewards?

Anyone can give extrinsic rewards. It can be peers, managers, parents, friends, juniors.

6. Are extrinsic rewards mandatory in an organization?

No, extrinsic rewards are not mandatory. But when offered, it sure does help improve the efficiency and productivity to a great deal.

7. What are the four types of extrinsic motivation?

The four basic types are-

1. External Regulation

2. Introjected Regulation

3. Regulation through Identification

4. Integrated Regulation

8. What are the advantages of extrinsic motivation?

Extrinsic motivation increases productivity, lowers absenteeism, creates goal-oriented behavior, and improves the organizational culture.

9. Is money intrinsic or extrinsic?

Money, salary are types of extrinsic rewards.

10. When should extrinsic rewards be used?

Extrinsic rewards should be used when your employees are not interested in their job and productivity is declining. It can also be used when your organizational culture is becoming too negative and employee engagement is reducing.

11. Is it bad to be extrinsically motivated?

It is not bad to be extrinsically motivated, especially when the goal is short-term. It creates an instant motivation inside an individual to attain the goal and work towards it.

12. What is the meaning of extrinsic?

Extrinsic means external, originating on the outside.

13. What is an extrinsic goal?

It is a goal that is mainly focused on external rewards like money, status, etc. The goal is backed by external rewards rather than internal interest.

14. Can Extrinsic motivation be useful for long-term goals?

Although it depends on the individual's way of perceiving the reward, most psychologists believe that Extrinsic motivation is often helpful for short-term goals.

15. What is the main role of extrinsic motivation?

The primary role of extrinsic motivation is to instantly boost an individual for performing a certain task.

If you are lucky enough to be someone’s employer, you have a moral obligation to make sure people do look forward to coming to work in the morning.
– John Mackey

Chapter 18

Takeaway

Thus, extrinsic motivation plays a significant role in shaping the organization's culture and maintaining it as a positive space to work.

On the flip side, it is also essential to know that extrinsic motivators will not work if the value of reward for an employee is zero. In that case, the employee will not be motivated to work for the given reward.

That being so, it is of utmost importance that you are aware of your employee's needs.

As per Vroom's expectancy theory of motivation, before doing a task, a person asks himself three questions-

Expectancy: Will I be able to?

Instrumentality: Will I get a reward?

Valence: Will the reward be desirable?

If the employee is low on Valence, even the best extrinsic reward won't motivate him. Therefore, it can be said that extrinsic motivation is very situational. Also, continuously rewarding the employee for the work he already likes will make him lose interest. It is also known as the overjustification effect.

Therefore, fulfilling the organization's long-term goals will benefit you the most if you know your employees well.

As the famous quote goes-

An employee's motivation is a direct result of the sum of interactions with his or her manager.
– Bob Nelson.

This article is written by Namrata Borgohain who is an International Marketing Specialist at Vantage Circle. In her free time, she will be found either searching for cute dog videos or virtually wandering in streets of Santorini. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com.

Since 1993, National Reconciliation Week has been an integral way for Australians to celebrate their shared heritage, culture, and accomplishments.

It’s more than a holiday. It’s a means of making (and celebrating) impactful change. Also, it’s a reminder of how far Australians have come and how far Australians have to go to establish a culture of peace, respect, and harmony.

But First, What Is National Reconciliation Week?

For the layman, Reconciliation Australia describes it as:

Reconciliation is a journey for all Australians – as individuals, families, communities, organisations, and importantly, as a nation. At the heart of this journey are relationships between the broader Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part, we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures, and futures.

From the 27th of May to the 3rd of June, Australia observes National Reconciliation Week every year without fail.

There is also a theme that differs from year after year. The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2021 happens to be:

More than a word. Reconciliation takes action.

The theme for 2021 focuses on urging Australians to move towards making bolder and more impactful choices.

Given that 2020 focused the world's attention on the importance of diversity and inclusion, it’s not shocking. It’s high time that Australians jump on that bandwagon as well.

Why Should We Observe National Reconciliation Week At Work?

A reconciled Australia is one where our rights as First Australians are not just respected but championed in all the places that matter ….”
~ Kirstie Parker (Board Member, Reconciliation Australia)

Diversity and inclusion are not just “nice” things to have. It is a critical need that leaders must recognise, acknowledge and implement.

But diversity and inclusion just don’t happen by themselves. It takes the efforts of everyone- including leaders and employees- to make it a valuable part of the company culture.

Celebrating National Reconciliation Week in the workplace will achieve four primary aims:

• Address the oppression faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people openly.
• Make your employees more aware of other cultures and the importance of cultural identity.
• Make your workplace feel like a safe place for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
• Encourage the discussion of discrimination and its consequences.

13 Amazing Ways To Celebrate National Reconciliation Week In The Workplace

Reconciliation must transcend Australian political theatre and promote a sense of national unity ….
~ Patrick Dodson (The State of Reconciliation in Australia, 2016)

Celebrating National Reconciliation Week in the workplace is about learning from the past and using it to make our present conditions better.

Suppose you are a leader or HR professional. In that case, this list will highlight the 13 simple ways to mark National Reconciliation Week in the workplace:

1. Honour The Food

In all kinds of cultures, food plays a vital part. Appreciating a culture's food is a terrific place to start for embracing it truly.

Hold a team lunch (or breakfast) to honour the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's culinary influence.

It’s a great way to start reconciliation conversations among your employees. Meanwhile, they get to taste delicious dishes that they would never have tried before.

Here are some ideas on what to do:

• Firstly, consider hosting a potluck. Request that your team bring in some delicacies that are distinctive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Remember to request that they be as authentic as possible. People will learn to value other cultures by making cuisine with their own hands. (P.S. This is not a remote-friendly option.)
• Secondly, contact your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander restaurants to cater a team lunch or breakfast to show your support. It's a great way to support local businesses while also enjoying some authentic cuisine. (P.S. This is a fantastic choice for both remote and regular workers.)

Recommended Resource: A Guide To Work From Home Policy

2. Ask Aboriginal Leaders Or Employees To Share Their Stories

Stories are a powerful medium of representation. It can help bridge the gap that we have knowingly created.

Invite a local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leader or employee to host a reconciliation discussion with your team.

Request that the speaker talks about their personal experiences, prejudices, and challenges daily by their communities.

Also, make sure the conversations are two-way. That way, your employees can voice their doubts about being better allies and getting rid of any unconscious biases.

Recommended Resource: How to Outsmart Unconscious Bias In Recruitment

3. Organize A Local Cultural Tour

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures are an integral part of Australia’s thousand-year-old history.

To truly understand their concerns and sacrifices, your employees must understand and respect that very history.

• Conduct a Reconciliation Culture Walk to all the significant landmarks and make it mandatory for your people to attend.
• Hire an Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders guide to lead the walk to ensure that their side of the story is being expressed and heard.
• You could add a quiz or trivia at the end of the culture walk to make it more engaging. To ensure that your people are more proactive, attach some fantastic benefits to winning the quiz (such as gift cards).

4. Donate To NGOs

Countless Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are denied the chance and support they need to succeed.

Several Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and NGOs are working hard to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to live a decent life with equal rights. Assist these organisations by:

• Asking your employees to donate and then matching the donation from your side.
• Hold a donation drive over your town or city.
• Organise an event and donate the proceeds to a local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander non-profit program.

Recommended Resource: Foster Your Business With Corporate Social Responsibility

5. Volunteer At The Local Community

Volunteering at local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander NGOs is another way you and your staff can show your solidarity.

It's a fantastic opportunity for your company to connect with the local communities. Additionally, it helps your people develop empathy and relate on a deeper level.

6. Start A Diversity Referral Program

It is not enough to educate people about National Reconciliation Week to honour it. You should also take concrete actions to ensure that they have an equal playing field.

Initiating equal job opportunities are a powerful way to combat prejudice towards Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders and bring meaningful change.

• Start by inaugurating a referral program meant for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other underrepresented groups.
• Ensure that the hiring panel is a mix of multicultural people.
• Drive awareness about it through social media channels.
• Encourage other local businesses to drive forward similar hiring initiatives.

Recommended Resource: A Guide To Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace

7. Advocate On Social Media Channels

The most effective way to show your support is through social media. Promote the National Reconciliation Week hashtag across all your social media networks.

Similarly, encourage your employees to share their views in support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

It may be a video message, holding up handmade signs in a collage image, or sharing the CEO's powerful call to action.

8. A Gift Hamper That Marks Reconciliation Week

Giving gift hampers curated of items made or endorsed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is a brilliant way to honour and support their culture.

Keep in mind that you are not mocking or disrespecting their culture. When purchasing items, please note the community's opinions on whether or not they are appropriate for widespread use.

Similarly, avoid buying things from enterprises established by non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that try to capitalise on their culture.

Here are a few of our ideas:

• Books that cover their history or were written by authors belonging to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
• Handcrafted items crafted by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
• Self-care products marketed by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-owned businesses.

9. Officewide Documentary Screenings

Holding company-wide screenings of influential films and documentaries is another excellent method to educate your employees about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

You and your team can meet remotely for an hour or two to connect and relax. This activity is exciting and will undoubtedly spark some intriguing conversations about the film.

If you're not sure what films to display, we suggest the documentary "In My Blood It Runs" or the Reconciliation Film Club for great choices.

10. Pledge Support For Local Businesses

Any business would have numerous needs to be met daily.

To commemorate National Reconciliation Week in the workplace, choose your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-owned companies to provide your organisation with the necessary supplies and services.

11. Pledge Support To New Constitutional Policies

Despite being an integral part of Australia’s history, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people barely get the representation they need in the Constitution.

To advocate for their cause and be a strong ally, read the "Uluru Statement from the Heart" and share it with your employees, other leaders, and people on how they can help.

12. Reward And Recognize People

Look for opportunities to reward and recognise your employees who actively work to make diversity and inclusion a part of the company culture.

Be sure to publicly appreciate these organisational superstars who genuinely care about their peers and others. Another upside is that other employees would be inspired by them and decide to follow in their footsteps.

Recommended Resource: The Ultimate Guide To Employee Rewards and Recognition

13. Conduct A Webinar

A webinar is fantastic for promoting cultural awareness and shedding light on some critical issues.

For honouring National Reconciliation Week in the workplace, call a panel of leaders from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, who will create an informative and active discussion on the struggles of their communities.

It will expose your coworkers and employees to the harsh truths of the world. As a result, they will be more conscious of their behaviour, enabling them to be better allies.

Finally

Honouring reconciliation should not be restricted to simply seven days in the workplace.

Instead, as a leader, you should take purposeful actions daily. The goal is to seek equal opportunities for all Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders.

This article is written by Barasha Medhi who is a part of the marketing team at Vantage Circle. Barasha can be found either searching for interesting HR buzzwords to write about or looking at pictures of cozy Bel Air mansions. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com.

What do we understand by organizing in general? It means keeping things in proper order.

Organizing a workplace is no exception. Your employees will benefit personally in their daily activities if they practice organizational skills effectively. It helps to get a sense of control, which leads to increased productivity at the workplace.

Do your employees constantly keep complaining about the workload and the deadlines? If that's the case, leaders should support the need for organizational skills development techniques.

What are Organizational Skills?

Organizational skills are those skills that help your employees to do their work efficiently. These skills are used to establish structure and order. Organizational skills also increase productivity and performance.

With strong organizational skills, the employees develop a firm grip on time management and stay goal-oriented. When there is order to your workplaces, there is low stress and a lesser chance of going wrong.

Interestingly the span of the skills falling under organizational skills is very confusing. Quite obviously, if the implementation were so easy, everyone would desire an effective and efficient workforce, isn't it?

On the other hand, are these skills good enough to bring about all the changes in the organization's functioning, or is there something more to it?

Having a to-do list, sticking to deadlines, and managing the break times shall enable achieving objectives and being organized.

The answer is yes and no both. Organizational skills are transferable and trainable skills that are employee-centric and manager-centric. These skills have to be absorbed at the molecular level, i.e., if an employee is efficient and manages their time well, they will always carry those skills to whichever place he/she goes to.

Some ways to improve your organizational skills are:

• Strategic Planning and organizing
• Proper time management
• Goal setting
• Delegating work
• Good Communication
• Team management
• Maintaining a healthy work-life balance

Also read: 5 Importance of Organizational behaviour at workplace

Why are Good Organizational Skills Important in the workplace?

Efficiency

The most significant advantage of organizational skills is Efficiency. It helps to increase productivity through effective time management. A standard professional spends a lot of time making mistakes, cleaning up clutters, and mostly time management.

In comparison, an organized worker who develops time management skills will put in better efforts and performance.

For example, an individual who focuses on revenue growth without keeping a tab on overhead costs will end up being at a loss. In contrast, an organized professional will balance both, thus working efficiently for the company for the same amount of time.

Team Management

Team management is another aspect that plays a vital role in the management of team members. Managing people requires deciding the organizational priorities and allocating the goals according to the skill set of the individuals.

Delegating responsibilities to people, setting project deadlines, and conducting timely performance evaluations are the necessary skill sets of managers. They are essential in creating a more efficient work environment.

When team members are managed efficiently, they work better and build great peer relationships.

Builds Trust and Morale

The benefits of good organizational behavior trickle down into daily external activities smoothly. Forming a sense of trust and professionalism in the organization wins the trust of your people. And everyone appreciates an image of reliability and control.

Either you are working on customer acquisition, promoting your business, organizing your office, and managing appointments with a potential customer or existing customers, your organization's perception shows that you have a clear focus and clarity. It also helps in strategic liability to deal with varied tasks successfully.

Reduce Stress

Organizational skills also help in reducing the unnecessary stress faced by the employees at the workplace. They reduce the clutter from the system. When the information is available readily, and things look planned, the employees will be more confident about your tasks. There will be less room for unnecessary congestion.

An organized workplace imparts positive vibes. People are most likely to be happy, clear-headed, and focused. As we see, employees with strong organizational skills will be efficient and help achieve organizational success.

Here is another fun fact. Organizational skills are not inborn. They are acquired skills and meticulously developed over time. One needs to improve organizational skills like any other soft skill.

10 Tips on organizational skills that will help your employees to excel at work:

1. Time management

Time management is planning and exercising strategic control of one's time spent on various activities. This will help your people be more innovative and take up new challenges.

For example, since most of your employees are working from home, there are many distractions right now, starting from family to guests. But when this becomes a daily event, it's time to take action.

A proper time management plan can help you break down large targets into achievable tasks, and it becomes simple for employees to complete those tasks on schedule.

Good time management requires you to see the bigger picture. What are the deadlines? What is the necessary amount of work? How many people are working on a particular project?

Poor time management can result in unwanted stress, poor work quality, lack of focus, and inadequate professional image.

Some of the ways for excellent and efficient use of time are-

• Help employees to plan their work
• Ask to Prioritize their daily tasks
• Avoid multitasking
• Cut off distractions
• Schedule your break timings
• And most importantly, accept your limitations.

We have only 24 hours but how we use those 24 hours defines who we become.

2. Planning

There is a saying, "if you don't plan, you plan to fail." With the help of proper planning in the future, you can hugely reduce the number of things that may go wrong. You can reduce the risk of uncertainty by arranging activities in the best way possible.

The ability to plan is the most important organizational skill of any successful person. Planning helps us identify the solutions to all our problems. It allows your employees to direct their energy towards specific activities. With fewer distractions, they are bound to be more productive.

Good planning includes elements such as time management, delegation, physical organization, and mental organization.

3. Scheduling

Scheduling will help you to get organized. Even though it's similar to planning, it has its own importance. Scheduling is an underrated method for enhanced employee management.

By scheduling, your employees can have an idea about the work you are doing. It also shows the grip you have towards work. It helps to keep a balance of different projects easily.

Scheduling encompasses work, meetings, breaks, and every part of your professional daily life. With the help of scheduling, it helps in prioritizing tasks.

Steps for scheduling are-

• Allow employees to plan the scheduling activities
• Arrange the activities in order
• Identify the resources needed for each task
• Estimate the time duration needed to complete each task
• Schedule the development
• Monitor the schedule

4. Resource Allocation

Resources are extremely valuable. Efficient resource allocation is required to be cost-effective so that it doesn't fall off the budget.

Organizational skills, in this sense, mean being aware of the resources available. It's also about identifying which teams will be able to transform the resources into solid business returns.

If you can't measure the resources, there will be wastage of it. Sometimes it might not be possible to optimize all the resources available at one go.

5. Delegation

Delegation is the process of allocating and entrusting work to another person. Your employees can't handle each aspect of a project by themselves. It will require a lot of time and energy, so delegating tasks is an essential organizational skill.

An organized leader is aware of the strengths and limitations of the team. It will assist in delegating tasks to those who are capable of handling them.

6. Prioritizing

Prioritizing is organizing tasks so that the most important tasks are done first. Employees should have clarity of the task so that they can prioritize better. Thus it will help to maintain clarity of the ultimate goal.

Capable of prioritizing tasks will make your life easier and less stressful. An organized leader creates a to-do list and understands which deadlines come first, which leads to better planning.

With practice, you become more confident to understand which task needs to be completed first.

Disorganized employers handle tasks in a haphazard manner which leads to energy and time waste. Prioritizing helps to keep things on track and complete them on time.

7. Collaboration

Collaboration is a group of employees who work together and contribute their skill set to achieve a common goal. Collaboration is beneficial for both the organization as well as the employees. It is a skill about collaborating with others that will significantly benefit the outcome of the project.

Collaboration is not something that can be forcefully imposed on employees. Good collaboration occurs where there is healthy workplace culture.

To increase employee engagement, you can organize informal social events. In informal gatherings, employees get to know each other more and form bonds.
Instead of high-budget team gathering events, you can organize small social events meetups. This will save you money and boost teamwork and team spirit.

8. Setting Goals

Every leader with good organizational skills should be goal-oriented. You should be able to distinguish between short and long-term goals. By staying focused on the plans, you can achieve goals with Efficiency.

Some of the steps for setting goals are-

• Brainstorming goals.
• Prioritize goals in a list and choose the employees you want to involve
• Determine the objectives and plan of action for each goal
• Proceed into action. Continual follow up of the employees
• Evaluate the progress
• Be flexible in changing goals with varying situations

Try to keep a record of goals and encourage the employees to review their progress with those goals from time to time. For this, you can use Objectives and Key Results(OKR) and Key performance indicators KPI.

OKR is a combination of goal-setting tools that align goals and ensure your employees work collaboratively with measurable results. It can be done by using spreadsheets or OKR software.

Key performance indicators are measurable performance values that tell how business objectives are performing. And when performance is measured, the rate of improvement increases.

Read More: The Ultimate guide on understanding KPI

9. Maintaining Efficiency

Efficiency and organization go hand in hand. Efficiency necessitates planning because smoother projects run the few problems it arises. Being efficient allows you to know where you are at any given point in time. It is due to organizing things well to prevent problems from occurring.

Some tips for maintaining efficiency are-

• Delegate responsibilities
  Giving responsibilities to your employees helps them to gain skills and leadership experience. This will increase productivity in an efficient manner
  
• Employee recognition and rewards
  Recognizing your employees for a job done can make them feel valued and motivate them to keep working hard.
  
• Give each other feedback.
  Through performance appraisals, give employees feedback on their performances. Let them know where they are excelling and what areas need improvement.
  

10. Communication

In an organization, effective communication is one of the key organizational skills. It maintains productivity and a strong relationship among employees. And in present times, it has become essential after the covid 19 outbreak since most employees are forced to work remotely.

It is also important how leaders communicate with their people. It builds trust and high morale among employees and leads to better productivity at the workplace. A good leader invests a lot of time and energy into delivering clear lines of communication.

Employees who communicate effectively with their teammates, managers, and customers are more likely to perform well than others. Knowing how to communicate well is definitely a valuable skill.

Poor Communication skills will lead to alienation and impact the way people work. It is hugely demotivating and leads to undue stress.

Bottom Line

Organizational skills are an asset to the company. They are the healthy habits or tools that enable your workforce to stay focused, motivated, and efficient in day-to-day tasks and give the team energy, strength, and mental space to achieve the desired result.

For new hires, a lot of times, these habits are not reflected in the resumes. It is best advised to have feedback from ex-employees for their feedback and judge their approach to things using short case studies.While it may not be possible to find all these skills or habits in a single candidate at once, the presence of a few of these will ensure that the person you are looking at is already on his path and clubbed with the feedback, a good hiring decision can be made.

This article is written by Sukriti Sarma is an International Marketing Specialist at Vantage Circle. She is dedicated to making workdays a little brighter for everyone and passionate about dancing and acting. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com.

There is no shortage of innovation and creativity in the modern workplace. People are more innovative, leaders are evolving, and businesses are looking to set new records. Thus, modern businesses need the aid of some solid strategic planning skills.

Many professionals hold the job title of “strategic planner” or “strategic planning manager.” Still, other jobs need strategic planning skills even though the label “strategic” is not mentioned in the designation.

For managers and leaders, strategic planning is a must-have skill. An efficient strategic thinker starts with mindful marketing strategies. It helps to analyze the big picture and makes project completion easier.

People who need to have strategic planning skills:

• Management Consultants
• Business Developers
• Corporate Developers
• Strategic Cost Analysts
• Operations Analyst

We believe, apart from these job roles, every employee or leader must know strategic planning because it helps to:

• Review the situation
• Understand the challenges
• Set objectives
• Identify strengths and weaknesses
• Prepare for risks

So, let's look at the different types of strategic planning skills and how to boost them. But first, let's review what we need to know:

What Are Strategic Planning Skills?

Strategic planning is nothing but setting a vision for a company and realizing the vision via small, obtainable goals. Strategic planning skills help to set goals, decide on an action plan and increase employee productivity.

Every job requires different skills and experiences, so make sure you read the job profiles carefully. Focus on skills needed and hire accordingly.

Types of Strategic Planning Skills

Now that we know what strategic planning skills are let's discuss the types.

Analytical

Leaders who work in strategic planning must have the ability to analyze and evaluate business plans. They must know market analysis, feasibility analysis, and more.

With an analytical skill, strategic planners can decide the steps a company needs to take, which includes:

• Attention to detail
• Calculating costs for implementation
• Critical thinking
• Logical thinking
• Inductive reasoning
• Deductive reasoning
• Systematic thinking

Communication Skills

Leaders with good strategic planning skills must communicate business plans with their employees. They must clearly explain the action plans to achieve the company goals Along with communication, they must also practice active listening.

Strong communication skills and active listening help in:

• Collaboration
• Constructive criticism
• Negotiation
• Conflict resolution
• Team building
• Teamwork

Leadership

Strategic planning involves strong decision-making. A person with the basic set of leadership skills will spur employees to reach a common goal. They must inspire, motivate and ensure employees’ loyalty towards the organization.

Leadership skills in strategic planning portray:

• Energetic workforce
• Establishes incentives
• Charisma
• Flexibility
• Interpersonal skills
• Motivation
• Recognition

7 Ways to Strengthen your Strategic Planning Skills

The market has become competitive, and you must identify weaknesses (both internal and external) to remain on top. Here are seven ways to master your strategic planning skills.

1. The Big Picture

A data-driven decision is an important step. Especially when you have good data sources and insights, you must gather information before making a strategic plan. This information allows you to see the big picture.

Seeing the big picture is about understanding:

• Your current situation
• What are the available resources?
• What market changes must you anticipate?
• Why must you execute the decisions you’re about to make?

When you understand and are ready for future changes, the company becomes agile. Success is imminent in any situation with meticulous planning and preparation.

2. Define a Process

Strategic planning requires a person to outline the process first. Doing so helps you gain better transparency and awareness of how to achieve your goals. There are many ways to achieve good strategic planning skills, but the Hoshin planning process is the one we suggest.

Hoshin planning has many elements that are effective in today’s market, such as:

• A continuous improvement approach to planning
• It helps in refining your plans and execution
• Emphasizes on leadership
• Assists in communicating common goals

When you understand the Hoshin planning process, you can effectively incorporate other strategic planning methods.

3. Think About Execution

Staying realistic is an essential step to strategic planning. Strategic planning requires a person to outline the process first. Doing so helps you gain better transparency and awareness of how to achieve your goals. This implies bringing the team members to a common ground and taking their input.

The primary aim is to get everyone committed to planning and executing the goal.
The process helps you analyze:

• The need for additional resources
• If there are parts, the team members cannot handle
• Need for new recruitment
• Outsourcing the task if required

4. Set a Timeframe

Most plans fail because people do not follow a strict timeline. Setting deadlines and following them is a necessary strategic planning process. Make sure you apply deadlines to both long-term and short-term goals.

As you start working on the project and figure out the execution, time management becomes imperative. You must perform these tasks within a specific timeframe. Setting realistic deadlines is crucial to achieving your objectives.

While setting deadlines, you must keep in mind a few things:

• Set realistic deadlines
• Take inputs from employees
• Ensure the deadlines are met
• Encourage teamwork for faster outputs
• Create a room for changes

following these steps will help enhance your leadership qualities and boost the team's success

5. Leave Room for Changes

Creating a detailed plan is essential, but over-planning is not. You must create a space for flexibility and allow your project to be adapted to different situations. You cannot mitigate every risk, so flexibility comes in handy.

Over-planning is a sign of becoming over-ambitious, and this is something you must avoid to eradicate adverse effects. If you set impossible goals, it will affect team motivation and work dynamics.

Believe in your team. Once the plan is set, sit back and look at the progress after a week or so. If the project still looks good, you know; you and your team are on the right track.

6. Rewards are Important

Rewards and recognition are a practical part of strategic planning. Before you finalize the plan, you must announce the rewards to the employees. First, set the milestone your team must achieve. Then balance it by rewarding your employees when they acquire the desired milestone.

Rewards don’t have to be big bonuses or expensive gifts; what matters is appreciation. For example, once they achieve their goals on time, you can give them incentives, time-off, or a simple gift card. This enhances motivation and employee engagement.

Want to know more about Digital Rewards: Vantage Circle offers the best employee benefits with Vantage Rewards; schedule a free demo today!

7. Review and Evaluate

Continuous evaluation is an effective process of strategic planning. With technology, reviews and evaluations have become hassle-free. Modern tools help you to get real-time analytics about the progress of your project.

Continuous evaluation is the key to progress. Now we have software helping us collect data and analyzing it faster. One can evaluate the factors concerning every milestone.

Conclusion

Following these seven tips will make you an expert in strategic planning skills. No matter what challenges your company faces, you can achieve the desired goal with a strategic plan.

This article is written by Gautam Gayan. He works as a Content Marketer at Vantage Circle. Apart from being a passionate content creator for HR services and employee engagement, Gautam is a theatre enthusiast, an avid reader and an aspiring poet. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Switching to remote work has thrown the regular 9-5 work-life out of balance. Now, we're all spending more time in meetings (often video calls) than ever before. It's a difficult situation, and we're all trying our best to adapt. As early as April 2020, 'Zoom Fatigue' was a noted phenomenon.

Image credit- Unsplash

New research shows that video conferences can be mentally draining. People are expected to sit in front of a screen for hours in the end. It induces feelings of detachment and anxiety. Burnout has suddenly become a growing possibility.

Also Read: Manager Burnout: Reasons and Solutions

Research says that so-called "Zoom fatigue" is real. And it has gained massive popularity after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though it's called "Zoom fatigue," it can happen on any video conferencing site. It includes Google Hangouts and Meet, Skype, Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting, and FaceTime. BlueJeans, Slack, and Houseparty too join the list.

But before going deeper, here's a closer look at the symptoms of Zoom Fatigue.

Most Common Symptoms of Zoom Fatigue

Credit- GIPHY

• You don't want to do any more video calls in the first place.
• You think about zoom meetings even when you are off work.
• You feel exhausted rather than active after a call.
• You daydream or remain absent-minded during the call.
• During calls, you can become heated up or sweaty.
• You feel irritation or pressure on the eyes that weren't there before.
• You get migraines or headaches regularly.
• You're frustrated because of technological or internet issues.

If you are feeling one or more of the above, then you are having zoom fatigue.

6 Root Causes of Zoom Fatigue

1. Continuous eye-contact

On Zoom calls, everyone is staring at each other. But the amount of eye contact we make and the scale of our faces on screens are unnatural. Faces may appear to be bigger and thus leads to uncomfortable conditions.

2. Stressful self-reflection

Image credit- Unsplash

Professor Jeremy Bailenson, founding director of the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL), says,

In the real world, if somebody were following you around with a mirror, that would be crazy. No one would ever consider that. It's taxing on us. It's stressful. And there's lots of research showing that there are negative emotional consequences to seeing yourself in a mirror.

Most of us now spend many hours each day watching ourselves on video chats. It is detrimental to our minds and body. For most people, it causes their self-esteem to drop.

3. Communication strain

BBC Worklife spoke to Gianpiero Petriglieri, an associate professor at Insead says-

"Being on a video call requires more focus than a face-to-face chat. Our minds are together when our bodies feel we're not. That dissonance, which causes people to have conflicting feelings, is exhausting. You cannot relax into the conversation naturally."

He adds, "silence creates a natural rhythm in a real-life conversation. However, when it happens in a video call, you became anxious about the technology."

Read our blog on: How To Overcome the Communication Barriers for Remote Employees?

4. The pressure of responding on time

Delays on the phone or conferencing systems affected our perceptions of people. As per a study, 1.2-second delays in responding made people think the responder was less friendly.

5. The ever-increasing cognitive load

Image credit- Unsplash

In a video meeting, gestures may also have various meanings. It might be your kid who came into your work from home setup, or it might be your doorbell that distracted you. But as you know- a slight change in your head movement will make all the difference.

According to Bailenson, nonverbal communication is widespread in daily face-to-face contact. Each of us makes and interprets gestures and nonverbal cues subconsciously.

But in video chats, sending and receiving signals needs more effort. Reading facial expressions and understanding tone through a computer screen requires more effort. You have to make sure that you are passing the right message to your connections. Focusing on the intent and tone of the message you want to send takes more time.

Say, for example, you must sit straight and chin up within the center of your screen. You have to put up the right gestures- put a thumb or an exaggerated nod to express your thoughts and feelings. It increases the stress levels as you have to use more mental calories to communicate.

In simple language, the cognitive load is higher, and you need to work harder. Screen dizziness and technological problems add to a few more obstacles leading to zoom fatigue.

Read our blog on: 20 Best Tips For Managers To De-stress Their Remote Team [2021]

6. Immobility

According to Bailenson, another factor is that video chats can reduce people's mobility. According to him, videoconferencing does not encourage people to walk about and relax. An individual is trapped in the same place since most cameras have a fixed field of view.

Many organizations have reached Stanford communication researchers for guidelines on video conferencing. Bailenson, along with Jeff Hancock, Géraldine Fauville, Mufan Luo, and Anna Queiroz, has devised the Zoom Exhaustion & Fatigue Scale, or ZEF Scale. The scale calculates how much fatigue people are feeling due to videoconferencing.

Hopefully, our work will contribute to uncovering the roots of this problem. It will help people adapt their videoconference practices to reduce 'Zoom fatigue.' - Fauville, assistant professor at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

How To Handle Zoom Fatigue?

1. Don't jam your calendar with bookings.

Make work time blocks in your calendar tool. But, don't forget to keep gaps between all the booking. And most importantly, mark your calendar visible to your colleagues. It enables you to schedule meetings for half of your day and insightful work for the other half. As a result, you'll prevent yourself from being burnt out on a single project.

Read our blog on: 5 Excellent Wellness Activities For Remote Employees

2. Hide self-view.

As already mentioned, seeing yourself on the screen can lead to self-evaluation. So, stop staring at yourself, and you should feel better. Zoom helps you to do that with the Hide Self-View option. Note that this will only prevent your image from appearing on your computer, not for other users. But it is one great way to deal with zoom fatigue.

3. During long meetings, switch off the camera.

Image credit- Unsplash

Give yourself a five-minute break to get some fresh air. While in the conference room, stretching or standing up to get water was acceptable. But moving in a video call can seem like you are not paying attention. There has to be a solution, right? Here's a quick tip. Switch off the camera so that your empty chair does not appear, but take those necessary small breaks and avoid zoom fatigue.

4. Don't schedule long meetings.

Virtual meetings do not have to be lengthy. To avoid zoom fatigue, use a shorter period as your default, such as 30 minutes. Providing an asynchronous video update ahead of time is a perfect way to cut down on meeting time.

How that works?

• When one person shares something, the other responds when they receive the message. Or, they might respond when they have time to analyze the information contained in it. One of the most famous examples here is email. This category includes recorded asynchronous videos.

• Go through the slides, provide an update, or ask for input in video format before the meeting. Do this a day ahead of time, and you will find your sessions getting shorter and more productive. Here are some other benefits that you will love to know:

• It is a subtle way of showing respect to one's time while still communicating.

• It allows you to use tone, expressions, and body language to ensure that you are understood.

• It allows you to personalize your post. You can make it easier to communicate with colleagues even when you can't be present in person.

5. Consider if video conferencing is necessary.

Video conferencing is draining. Thus, it's worth considering whether it is an absolute necessity for communication. If it isn't, having the discussion over the phone or by email may be a better option. These substitutions will help you reduce stress at work.

6. Why not use a fun background?

Credit- GIPHY

Zoom gives you the option of displaying any backdrop you like behind you. To make video conference calls more fun, use a theme-based virtual setting. It can be a brilliant zoom icebreaker. Like you can use a picture that you took on your favorite holiday trip. Or, it might even be a picture of your dream destination or your favorite scene from a movie. Seriously, it will work as brilliant light conversation starters. Try it!

Read our blog on: 10 Best Virtual Team Building Activities for Remote Employees

7. Practice mindfulness.

When coping with Zoom fatigue, you can use the advantages of self mindfulness. Here are a few suggestions on the same-

• Practice deep breathing. It's also a good idea to take a few deep breaths before getting on the call or in-between zoom meetings. It helps to reduce stress during Zoom meetings (especially if your video is off).
• You may practice gratitude by writing down something for which you are grateful.
• Walking meetings are a great way to break up the monotony of a typical work from home environment. They're also a great way to stay focused when on the move. A walking meeting works better when adequately facilitated, such as with a specific task and time limit. Start the meeting with a brief talk over your day's accomplishments. You will indeed feel much energized.
• Create a quiet space for yourself, away from the hustle and bustle of a busy day.

7. When you're tired, make a stand for yourself.

Credit- GIPHY

When you are exhausted or drained, you might need to inform your team that you need a break. Letting others know your limits can be frustrating initially, but it will be well worth it in the long run.

Think about the face-to-face meetings. You used to get up to swap meeting rooms or grab a cup of tea or coffee, even though meetings were back-to-back. So, why not now? Recognize that even while working remotely, you need regular breaks.

We'd love to hear how you handled, and if you have any ideas for avoiding zoom fatigue. Please share them in the comments section below.

This article is written by Susmita Sarma, a podcast host and content creator at Vantage Circle. She was involved with media relations before shifting her interest in research and creative writing. Apart from being a classical music buff, she keeps a keen interest in anchoring and cooking. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Anyone who has visited a restaurant or a cafe is aware of how intense the food and beverage industry can be.

The hours are long, the wages low, and engagement is almost nil.

These conditions made me think, what could be the reason behind it? Is the manager not treating them well? Which particular part needs development?

These problems attribute to one factor—the general lack of rewards and recognition in the food and beverage industry.

While some places do practice recognition, most businesses don't acknowledge it at all.

If you are a leader in the F&B industry, it's high time you know how to make your people feel happy and appreciated. And to do that, this article will aim to provide actionable suggestions to keep the employees happy.

The Importance of Food and Beverage Industry

The industry itself is pretty vast. In fact, In the United States, more than 1.7 million people are employed in the food and beverage industry. And this massive workforce is unhappy with their current working conditions.

However, the current pandemic took a significant toll on the industry. Thousands of people were left unemployed while the industry struggled to bounce back. With continuous worldwide lockdowns, the F&B industry incurred heavy losses.

In between all the difficulties, companies were trying their best to help their employees.

• Nestle said it would pay total salaries for at least three months to employees affected by work stoppages to prevent coronavirus spread.

• PepsiCo enhanced its employee benefits and provided full payment during the crucial period.

But that scenario is changing slowly. After a tough time, the planet is regaining its stability, providing a ray of hope for the industry.

The current scenario made us realize how pivotal the said industry is with its services. Their importance in our life is vital. The employees were tirelessly fulfilling their duties while fighting the pandemic.

Below is a list of few pointers stating the importance of the industry-

• Forms a significant part of the hospitality sector

• Provides a sustainable food and beverage production

• Without this industry, the world would have seen a large scale food shortage

• Help bring different cultures together and bring awareness about them

• Improve the global supply chain of products

Types of Food and Beverage Service

The F&B industry consists of different sectors. But it is mainly made up of two categories.

The categories are-

1. Commercial Sector

The commercial sector makes up the largest sector of the F&B industry. It mainly consists-

• Quick service restaurants, mostly fast-food joints

• Full-service restaurants comprising fine dining and diverse options

• Catering and banqueting services

• Alcohol services like pubs and bars

2. Non-Commercial Sector

The non-commercial sector mostly makes up the administrative services. It mainly consists -

• Institutional like the hospitals, universities, corporate cafeterias, etc.

• Accommodation sector like hotels, room service, etc.

• Vending and automated food services.

5 Ideas to Elevate Employee Recognition

1. Celebrate Every Achievement

Taking care of your customers is always the priority. But who are the ones that satisfy your customer with the services?

The answer is simple- your hard-working employees with their dedication and enthusiasm.

They ensure that-

• Customers get the best experience.

• The needs and requirements of clients are fulfilled.

Accumulating good feedbacks or genuine reviews are a few of the achievements you can look out for. Celebrate the achievements and the small wins that the team earns every day.

Wish them in every possible way with the help of Vantage Circle's wish feature. Be it a birthday, festival or any special occassion. Our flexible engagement platform allows easy ways to convey meaningful messages.

Once you achieve that, make sure to recognize your people in a public manner. Doing so will boost the employees’ morale and create a culture of recognition.

Recommended: A Complete Guide To Employee Recognition

2. Do not forget birthdays and anniversaries

Yes, celebrating birthdays and anniversaries is a way to recognize your employees. It just shows that as a manager, you value them.

Celebrating your employees' special days can be monumental in making them feel valued. It is a great way to increase their job satisfaction levels.

But you need to automate that system. One such tool that can help a manager is Vantage Circle. With this tool, you can instantly get notifications about essential occasions and post them in the social feed.

Moreover, the tool provides the users with a unique feature in the form of a Service Yearbook. This allows the peers to convey warm messages in a specially curated digital booklet. Employees can also share different pictures or moments that are special for the one celebrating their anniversary.

This will enable you to facilitate an employee-centric culture and boost the confidence of the employees.

Recommended: Employee Recognition Platform that You Need

3. Make room for Public Appreciation

Appreciating employees for their excellent work is essential. Every little accomplishment needs appreciation.

You can appreciate them by-

• Publicly acknowledging them in front of your customers

• Using online tools for peer appreciation

• Handing them the title of “Employee of the month.”

Do make sure that the message of appreciation is clear and concise. With Vantage Rewards’ flexible appreciation module, you can publicly acknowledge the efforts they put into it. The best part is that Vanatge Rewards makes timely and on-spot recognizing incredibly easy and convenient. Thus, helping in increasing employee satisfaction and engagement levels.

Remember, your customer satisfaction is only achievable if your employees are satisfied. And appreciating your people for their contribution is the best way to ensure that.

Read more: Employee Engagement- A Complete Guide

When it comes to leadership, emotional intelligence has recently become one of the hottest topics. Research also indicates that emotional intelligence has a strong impact on the engagement level of employees. We do know, however, that it is a characteristic that can be measured and improved. But what exactly is emotional intelligence, and how does it impact the way we think about leadership and employee engagement today?

In this podcast, Grant explains the different aspects of emotional intelligence. You'll hear about the top places where emotional intelligence can be applied, how it can be used to drive employee engagement, and the risks or costs that lack of emotional intelligence can have on leaders, teams, and company culture.

Grant has been awarded the honor of being named the Emotional Intelligence Speaker and Trainer of the Year for the past 2 years and is seen as a leader in his profession, with over 37 years as a leadership trainer and coach. As the founder and Global Managing Partner of People Builders and the People Builders Institute, Grant Herbert trains, certifies, and mentors coaches, corporate trainers, online course creators, and HR professionals to develop others all over the world.

Despite his many credentials and awards, he describes himself simply as "An ordinary guy, with an outstanding wife and 5 amazing kids, who has a passionate message to share about being authentic and living the life you were created to live."

Connect with Grant on Linkedin

Show Notes:

(01:30) For those of our listeners who are unfamiliar with the word, let's start by defining the term- emotional intelligence. What is emotional intelligence, and why is it necessary for leaders?

(02:38) How did you become involved in emotional intelligence and make it so central to your work?

(05:25) When we talk about our workplace, would you like to mention the top areas where we can apply emotional intelligence?

(10:35) How to use emotional intelligence to drive employee engagement or say, what is the emotionally intelligent way to engage employees?

(14:34) How do you think leadership has evolved over the time you've been studying it?

Read our blog on: Leadership Skills For Managers That Will Help You in 2021

(20:53) What if we have a coworker or a boss that you know as having a low EQ? How can we provide them with actionable input or information?

(24:15) How we can develop EQ?

(27:29) Do you follow any HR leader or what is your favorite HR book?

Among all the leadership styles, the autocratic leadership style is the one with the poor rep. But is it truly as bad as it is made out to be?

Rajeev Peshawaria, an experienced HR professional who has held positions as Chief Learning Officer at Coca-Cola and Morgan Stanley, writes:

Perhaps the biggest inconvenient truth of the current times is this. We've been idealizing democratic and all-inclusive leadership far too much when the need of the hour is — and always has been — autocratic, top-down leadership.

According to Peshawaria, "To drive breakthrough results in today's age of speed, top-down autocratic leadership is indeed required."

Being an exceptional leader means knowing which is the right leadership style for you.

This article aims not to judge whether the autocratic leadership style is good or bad for you. It seeks to set out all of the facts in front of you to help you make an informed decision.

Without further ado, let's get started.

Autocratic Leadership Definition

Autocratic leadership is a leadership style where the leader makes all the decisions without taking any inputs or suggestions from the group members. It is often widely referred to as the authoritarian leadership style.

The autocratic management style is the polar opposite of the Democratic or Laissez-Faire leadership style. Authoritarian leaders make all decisions based on their own beliefs and ideas. These leaders often tend to exert influence over the work of the other group members.

It's fair to say that working under such leaders will take some getting used to. Employees may feel as though their views are unheard, leading to disengagement.

But we can't ignore a simple fact. The autocratic type of leadership creates some really strong leaders.

Autocratic leaders are self-driven, resilient, and less vulnerable to external influences. When dealing with a major organizational crisis or change, an autocratic leader might be the perfect leadership style that your people need.

Characteristics of Autocratic Leadership

The secret behind how autocratic leadership work is simple. Establish high-level control and use it to produce the desired results. Let's see what we can expect from an authoritarian leadership role:

1. Final Decision Makers

The driving force behind the autocratic leader is that they will always be the final decision-maker. No group members are trusted with decisions or important tasks under such a leadership style.

Because it allows little to no input from the team, autocratic leaders make almost all the big decisions. It requires them to keep abreast of every major development, happenings, and research related to the company operations.

Autocratic leadership makes for much faster decision-making since the line to get a decision finalized is short. It saves a lot of time that would have been spent on needless permissions.

2. Highly Structured Processes

Autocratic leaders are perfectionists in a way. They tend to create highly structured and rigid work processes. Meanwhile, there is a high priority to set clear rules and follow them strictly.

There is an obvious command line under the autocratic management style. It is especially effective in groups where strong leadership is needed.

The rigidity of the leadership style also helps in streamlining employee performance. A strong autocratic leader sets clear expectations and goals that empower employees to do their jobs more efficiently.

3. Lack Of Trust

Since the autocratic leadership style discourages employees from sharing their ideas and inputs, it hampers the boss-employee relationship greatly.

It gives employees the impression that they are insignificant to the company. Employees get rarely trusted with important decisions and duties, which causes discontent among them.

4. Clear Communication

Since there is a clear command line, there is no communication gap and a greater level of transparency. It ensures that all tasks and deadlines get completed in time.

However, autocratic leaders don't or rarely seek any form of feedback from their employees. It may result in misdiagnosis of the workplace issues.

Autocratic leadership Advantages And Disadvantages

Let's explore whether an autocratic leadership style is the right one for you:

Benefits of Autocratic Leadership Style

Despite facing criticism, there are some tangible benefits that an autocratic leader brings to the company.

1. More Cautious

Autocratic leaders are overly cautious to the point of being a flaw. Their love for rules makes them very particular about the tasks that they prioritize. They only proceed with a project after long hours of research and analysis.

Unlike Laissez-Faire leaders, autocratic leaders do not feel pressured to accept every (or any, to be accurate) idea offered by group members.

Not all ideas are great. The time, effort, and resources spent on bad ideas can turn out to be quite expensive in the long run. But the probability of such a thing happening in the autocratic leadership style is almost nil.

2. Systematic Goal Setting

Autocratic leaders are clear about what they want and expect from their teams. Such transparency allows employees to set precise goals and commit to them.

3. Highly Structured Work Environment

The structure is vital for a company to flourish. People instinctively know who to turn to when things go wrong under autocratic leadership. It offers a clear sense of direction to team members as they know who is in charge.

Having an authoritative leader can also bring a productivity boost. Deadlines are quickly met, and projects get completed efficiently.

4. Quick Decisions

It is normal to encounter cases where leaders must make quick decisions. When there are fewer people involved in the decision-making process, this process becomes must faster.

With an outstanding autocratic leader on board, group members can always count on someone to make the right call.

Disadvantages of Autocratic Leadership Style

Autocratic leadership isn't all sunshine and rainbows. It has its own set of drawbacks, thus negatively affecting the company.

1. Hampers Innovation

We know that autocratic leaders love to live by the rule book and don't care for others' opinions. While this might have worked great with past generations, millennials and Gen Z workers will feel less than thrilled working under such a boss.

A too rule-oriented leader won't be ideal for a company (or workforce) that needs creativity to strive. Even if we let the rules and regulations part slide, the exclusion from any decision-making abilities can be the final nail in the coffin for any form of innovation.

With a lack of innovation, not only the employees but the company will grow stagnant. It will almost be impossible to compete with the market standards- if not now, then a few years down the line.

2. Low Morale

The main drawback to autocratic leaders is that they can be strict and restrictive. Employee morale would suffer as a result of such leaders in charge.

And any good leader understands that a lack of morale can have a significant impact on your business. All will suffer, including company culture, efficiency, commitment, and success. Eventually, you will notice several employees intending to leave the company.

3. Less Autonomy

An autocratic leadership style is not for a company where collaboration is vital to the culture. A collaborative culture sustains itself on solid communication, exchanging ideas, and great relationships—all of the factors that an autocratic leader will fail to create.

Under this leadership style, employees feel like they are not a part of the company's journey. People tie their worth to performing tasks and completing goals. That negatively impacts how they feel about the company and their job.

Employees lose their sense of independence when they work under an autocratic leader. They are more likely to experience burnout if they experience continuous yet rigid performance standards.

4. Degradation Of Work Relationships

The autocratic leadership style doesn't focus on building meaningful work relationships. When there is a lack of peer-to-peer connection or even boss-employee relationships, the culture grows toxic. The conflicts increase while people indulge in unhealthy competition.

Any mentoring program has no function under autocratic leadership. Since there is no one to show new hires the ropes, they are likely to feel at odds with the work culture.

There are also far fewer occasions to learn from one's peers. Team members who learn through constructive collaboration and knowledge sharing can not achieve their growth under autocratic leadership.

5. Non-Agility

A strong leader can guide you through a crisis, but they must be agile to survive it.

With autocratic leadership, any form of positive change or transformation will not be quick or sudden. As a result, in a crisis, you might not want these leaders to guide you.

A great example of this is the Covid-19 pandemic, where the abrupt shift to a remote culture required urgent digitalization efforts. It also needed leaders to be profoundly empathetic and flexible, which the autocratic leadership lacks.

Autocratic Leadership Examples

Now that we have discussed the pros and cons of the autocratic leadership style let's look at some famous examples of autocratic leaders.

1. Elon Musk

Elon Musk is quite possibly the poster child of being the modern-day genius. Musk is notorious for doing things that people consider impossible. Musk has exercised the autocratic leadership style at each of his various enterprises, such as Tesla and SpaceX.

2. Jeff Bezos

The founder of Amazon practices a mix of autocratic and transformational leadership styles. Bezos is a highly structured person who has made Amazon what it is today. The high and rigorous standards set by Bezos have turned the Amazon business model into a massive success.

3. Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs, the mastermind behind the world's most valuable company, led in an autocratic manner. Jobs was meticulous to a fault and always followed his ideas, despite the advice of other team members.

4. Henry Ford

Although he was an autocratic leader, Henry Ford revolutionized the world by introducing the first commercially manufactured car for mass usage.

5. Bill Gates

Bill Gates' management style is a mix of autocratic and transformational. However, like most leaders, Gates too adopted the use of more than one leadership style. Most of Bill Gates' success is due to his ability to make quick decisions.

What's Next?

Every leadership style has got both bad and good aspects. The autocratic leadership style is no different.

If practiced in an efficient manner, it can help you become a great leader capable of bringing great change. If done in the wrong way, it can transform you into an organizational bully.

This article is written by Barasha Medhi who is a part of the marketing team at Vantage Circle. Barasha can be found either searching for interesting HR buzzwords to write about or looking at pictures of cozy Bel Air mansions. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com.

Equity Theory helps us analyze employee motivation in terms of equality and fairness.

Workplace motivation differs from employee to employee. For some employees, motivation means money, status, etc.

For others, it is about doing their best and becoming the star performer.

Many business leaders have invested their time to understand employee perception and theories of motivation. They test these theories in the workplace to learn how it affects employee productivity and efficiency.

One such motivation theory is Equity Theory, and this article will shed some light upon it. But before we go in-depth, let’s understand:

What is Adam’s Equity Theory of Motivation?

Equity Theory, otherwise known as the Equity Theory of Motivation, was introduced in 1963 by John Stacey Adams, a workplace behavioral psychologist.

It is based on a simple idea.

A succesful workplace can enhance team motivation by treating everyone with respect and dignity.

According to Adam’s Equity Theory of motivation, employees who identify a situation of inequality between them and their peers will feel demotivated and distressed.

For example, if an employee knows that their colleague is getting a higher salary than them for the same amount of work, this might create dissatisfaction.

The theory also indicates that the higher the level of equity (fairness) amongst employees, the higher the level of motivation. Similarly, the prime reason for employee demotivation is inequity.

Also Read: Employee Motivation: A Comprehensive Guide

Understanding Adam’s Equity Theory of Motivation in the Workplace

If we were to understand Adam’s Equity Theory fully, we must know the inputs and outputs of employees first. Inputs are nothing but the things an employee does to achieve the outputs.

Inputs are nothing but every small or significant contribution employees make towards the organization. For instance:

Inputs include:

• The number of working hours
• Commitment
• Enthusiasm
• The experience brought to practice
• Personal sacrifices (if any)
• Loyalty towards mentors, managers, and the organization
• Job role and responsibilities
• Flexibility to work under pressure or strict deadlines

Whereas outputs, commonly referred to as outcomes, are what the employee receives because of their inputs in the organization. Some of them are tangible benefits like salary or intangible benefits like flexible working hours and recognition.

Some of the typical outputs are:

• Salary
• Bonus
• Pension
• Annual Holidays
• Company travels
• Recognition
• Promotion
• Performance appraisals
• Flexibility
• Significant achievements
• Learning and Development

We can clearly define equity now that we understand the basics of inputs and outputs..

The definition of equity is an employee’s outputs divided by their inputs.

But Adam’s Equity Theory is a level-up and mentions that individuals do not measure equity in isolation. Instead, they compare with their peers. If they come across an inequitable situation, they tend to adjust their inputs to maintain balance.

To maintain the balance, employees constantly regulate their inputs. Let's say X and Y have identical inputs. But, the output of Y is vastly larger than that of X. Thus, X would feel highly demotivated.

Also, employees will have to give better inputs if their outputs are more significant than their colleagues doing the same job. Employees’ perception of equity depends on how their managers treat them by giving them equal respect and opportunities.

How To Compare: Referent Groups

A referent group is a group of people a person uses for comparison. As per Adam’s Equity Theory, there are four significant referent groups people tend to compare themselves with.

1. Self-inside: An employee’s intrinsic experience in their current workplace
2. Self-outside: An employee’s experience with the industry standards
3. Others-inside: An employee comparing themselves with someone from their current workplace
4. Others-outside: An individual comparing themselves with someone outside their workplace

Let’s have a look at this with an example to understand better.

• If a UX Designer compares their salary with other UX designers in the same company then the referent group is others-inside.

• If the same employee compares their pay with an acquaintance from a different company, it refers to others-outside.

• If they compare their pay with their previous job, it relates to self-outside.

• And, when they contemplate on their performances in the same organization, it refers to self-inside.

Surprisingly, the Equity Theory of Motivation in the workplace is applicable when employees compare themselves to people in absolute opposite job roles and significant salary differences.

For instance, let’s take the example of a UX Designer. They might compare themselves to the CEO, who earns much higher than them. How can this seem fair to you?

Well, here’s the answer!

Employees determine their inputs to be very different. They will see that even though they have a lesser salary than the CEO, they have an excellent work-life balance. They might know the CEO is traveling very often for client meetings, work long hours even on weekends, and deals with tremendous stress. In such a situation, employees console themselves to see the fairness established in their minds.

As a leader or a manager, keep in mind, Equity Theory is applicable in a broad sense. Every employee responds to inequitable relationships in their unique way.

Equity Theory Examples in the Workplace

One can identify Equity Theory in the workplace by overhearing conversations among their colleagues and peers.

Generally, employees compare themselves with people who get higher salaries than them. Equity Theory comes into existence when you hear things like:

• “Miranda earns more than me, but I don’t see her doing much work.”
• “I get less salary compared to Miranda, but this place needs me more than her.”
• “Hey, did you know the new guy gets paid three times more than us yet works few hours! Hows is this fair?”

With these examples, we can see employees comparing their remuneration and contribution with others. However, salary comparison is a common practice amongst employees. There are other types of comparison like learning opportunities, work from home opportunities, flexibility, etc.

Critical Points for Managers to Keep in Mind

Here are some essential things to keep in mind to understand equity theory in the workplace if you’re managing a team:

• Employees measure their total inputs against all outputs. For example, a single parent will accept flexible working hours and lesser pay.

• Social comparison plays a vital role while being fair to every employee. Two employees who do the same work will compare their performances with individual perceptions. As a good team leader, you must learn these expectations and influence values.

• Senior employees get more salary than juniors. But, paying excessive salaries is a sign of demotivation amongst other employees. One must know to balance both.

• An employee who receives higher compensation and recognition will increase their effort. Similarly, if an employee feels underpaid, their motivation level goes down.

Managers must also keep track of options available to the ti reduce inequality and partiality in the workplace. They are:

• Change employees’ inputs or outputs
• Change inputs or outputs of others
• Change the perception of inputs and outputs

Equity Theory- Summary

Overall, Adam’s Equity Theory of Motivation indicates that employees can attain higher motivation when every employee gets equal and fair opportunities.

It is common for employees to compare themselves to other employees from inside and outside the organization. They compare their total of all inputs against the sum of all outputs.

If they see inequality and unfairness, they will lower their inputs to compensate. They will choose to work more or work less depending on the positivity or negativity of the situation.

This article is written by Gautam Gayan. He works as a Content Marketer at Vantage Circle. Apart from being a passionate content creator for HR services and employee engagement, Gautam is a theatre enthusiast, an avid reader and an aspiring poet. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Organizational behavior is an essential part of people management in today’s work culture. The synergy and behavior between your people will determine their efficiency.

In-depth learning provides an understanding of how employees communicate with one another. Their compatibility is vital so that work goes on without hiccups. Without your people’s unity, it is difficult to achieve long-term success.

In this article, we will discuss why employee behavior is crucial for an excellent working culture.

What is organizational behavior?

Organizational behavior is the study of how people interact in groups.

The key goal here? To improve workforce efficiency and effectiveness. Employees are also more likely to commit to the company’s growth.

Overall, it simplifies human resource management. Furthermore, it enables the employees to function better.

The study of organizational behavior emphasizes on-

• Improving job satisfaction

• Enhancing performance

• Promoting innovation

• Fostering good leadership qualities

The best-known study of organizational behavior is the Hawthorne Effect. This effect describes that people’s behavior may change when they feel that they are being observed.

Moreover, without good organizational behavior, employees are inclined towards irrationality. This can severely affect their equal employment opportunities in the organization.

Learn more: Equal Employment Opportunity- Things You Need to Know

Elements of Organizational Behavior

Every leader needs to be aware of some key aspects of organizational behaviors.

But one has to understand the core elements behind it.

These elements are interlinked with each other. It is vital to maintain a balance between them. If one of the elements fails to work properly, it may trigger a domino effect.

This can harm the organizational bottom-line affecting future goals.

Below are the four main elements that form the pillars of the study-

1. People

The whole behavioral study revolves around the employees in the organization. They truly are the backbone of your organization. They make the work happen in a systematic manner and achieve the goals.

It is crucial to understand the changes they are going through with new developments. With a thorough study, a leader can-

• Identify the external factors that have led to the change

• Work on the solutions and instill efficiency

2. Structure

The managing body of an organization is like the DNA of a human body. Without proper structure and processes, the workplace might crumble.

Remember that the employees are dependent on the management. Without its existence, there would be no-

• Coordination between different levels of the organization

• Hierarchy to look after the needs and requirements of the workforce

It is crucial to maintain a rigid and robust structure. And if there is any shortcoming, it can diminish the flow of control. This can significantly impact the organizational culture in the long run and harm its market presence.

3. Technology

Technology is a boon and a bane, yet its influence in the modern world is substantial.

If used appropriately, it can do wonders. However, without proper knowledge about technology, it can affect the efficiency of the workforce.

The primary purpose of technology in an organization is to-

• Accomplish tasks in an easier way

• Provide new and better solutions

But, if people don’t get accustomed to the changes in technology, it can create chaos.

They will be unclear about their role and their future alongside it. It will result in a drastic impact on productivity, morale, and behavior change.

Read more: The Influence of Technology in the Workplace

4. Environment

The work environment has a strong influence on the work people do.

There is a direct link between work environment and organizational behavior. When one changes, the other changes too.

A leader must know how workplace environments play a crucial part in employee engagement. They have to understand the differences. And below is a table depicting those differences-

Remember that it is all interlinked to how an employee will behave in the workplace. Their desire to work in a good mood will determine their engagement levels.

Importance of Organizational Behavior

1. Good Workplace Relationships

It is hard to build meaningful workplace relationships. As a leader, you have to look out for any instances of conflict. Or situations that can hamper employee relationships.

Figuring out the real issues that harm employee relationships might be a daunting job. But it is essential to do that.

Organizational behavior is essential to assist a leader in solving the issues. It helps you in-

The main objective is to improve communication among people. On top of that, it reduces any chances of misunderstanding that can harm relationships.

2. Employee Motivation

Motivation is a crucial element when we talk about employee engagement. Without motivation, it is difficult to improve productivity. A lack of motivation is why your people don’t give their 100% effort to the job.

Tackling such an issue will require the study of organizational behavior. It-

It gives a clear understanding of the issues. After which, you can quickly act on it and resolve them for greater efficiency.

3. Builds a Psychologically Safe Workplace

Organizational behavior study helps a leader to understand their influence on the employees. It determines your attitude towards them. It draws a clear picture of how to make your workplace psychologically safe. This is a workplace that will inspire and build morale.

A psychologically safe workplace helps the employees in-

Recognize that you can examine differences by studying behavior. This allows a manager to build a workplace where employees feel at home and work without any hiccups.

Read more: Psychological Safety- Paving Way Towards Better Team

4. Nature of Employees

Achieving success in the long term can be a difficult task. And maintaining consistency is even more significantly challenging.

However, it will all depend on how employees behave at work. Their attitude towards their work will reflect on the results.

The employees need to be passionate and enthusiastic about their work. And if they are laid back regarding their work, then it poses as a roadblock.

To understand the impact of it, the study of behavior is critical. It helps a manager in deducing-

The factors can be varying. However, if the nature of the employees does not change over time, it can hinder growth. This can result in an organization getting derailed from the path of success.

5. Higher Efficiency in Teams

The study of behavior in an organization is vital for team collaboration. It gives you insights into the similarities and differences that people share.

Understanding the dynamics will assist a leader in facilitating better team unity. A team with good chemistry will-

In return, it builds good morale and confidence among team members. Thus, increasing team bonding which is crucial in meeting the company objectives. As a result, leaders can achieve greater success in the long term.

Summing It Up

The study of organizational behavior is easier said than done. It takes tremendous effort and time to successfully do it. Social psychology plays a crucial role in human behavior in organizational settings. A leader must do thorough organizational behavior research to bring the best in their people. Take the necessary steps to improve employee experience and bring the right behavioral change within the organization.

Mrinmoy Rabha is a content writer and digital marketer at Vantage Circle. He is an avid follower of football and passionate about singing. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

The airline industry is largely dependent on employee services.

Nothing can stop the aviation market from falling if they dissatisfy their consumers. Employees must assist their customers in a way that does not harm their market value

Now, Covid-19 has spread across the globe, killing millions of people. To avoid the avoid, governments have advised their people to not take flights. It has affected the aviation industry. As a result, employee furloughs, pay cuts, and unemployment have hit them badly.

But, there was always a need for employee engagement efforts in the aviation industry. The HR departments did little to address disgruntled employees.

Read our blog on: A Brief Guide On How To Manage Disgruntled Employees

Here, employee motivation is one of the main issues impacting their performances. So, the first thing to do is to focus on motivating the employees.

Here we look at how airlines can re-energize employee morale to stay on top and enjoy success.

7 Ways To Motivate Your Airline Staff The Right Way

1. Keep Communication Open

Talent management in difficult times is the actual test of success for a company. Since talent reflects a company's bottom line, employee engagement and motivation become essential. That calls for transparent communication.

Also read: Employee Motivation- A Comprehensive Guide

Aviation companies should contact their employees through internal digital communication platforms. It provides transparent information, updates, and support.

Employees strengthen and develop innovative strategies when they are well-connected.

So, let them stay updated. They should be able to connect with whoever is in charge of responding to COVID-19 concerns.

2. Promote Your Employees' Mental Health And Wellbeing

While your employees are remote working, you must assist them. It is also critical to look after their physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.

While movement restrictions can cause physical health problems, remaining home-bound can be depressing. Tip videos, online workshops on physical fitness are useful to assist employees. For example, you can onboard your employees for some fun Zumba sessions.

3. Bring More Intrinsic And Extrinsic Motivation To The Table.

Extrinsic motivation drives most employees. It includes-

• External benefits
• Rewards
• Promotions and other reward programs.

Particularly when many employees are financially weak, extrinsic motivation can help.

It can come from fringe benefits, employee perks and discounts, bonuses, and gift packages. It can also be other tangible benefits in the compensation reward scheme. Airlines like Vistara offer insurance to their selected employees, covering hospitalization costs.

But, researchers have found that intrinsic motivation outperforms people with high extrinsic motivation.

These high intrinsic benefits include-

• Praise and appreciation
• Flexible hours
• Opportunities for advancement
• Work enjoyment and workplace friendships

It can be as simple as acknowledgments made through e-mails. Or you can call out employees' names for their hard work at team meetings. You can even say a simple thank you for their efforts. There are no monetary advantages associated with this.

If you can help your employees uncover intrinsic motivation, they'll get highly motivated. In return, they will work hard and excel in the long run. That means they'll be more efficient and contribute more value to the company.

Integrate with Vantage Circle that offers an excellent forum for acknowledging and appreciating your employees.

Although the words "employee engagement" and "employee experience" can sound similar, they are actually very different.

Employers across the globe strive to ensure that their employees are satisfied and engaged with their job. But here, we need to understand that while engaged employees are satisfied with their jobs, satisfied employees are not necessarily engaged in their respective jobs.

Read our blog on: Employee Satisfaction Survey: A Brief Guide

Yes, this is a bit confusing, and that is why HRs must be mindful of the distinctions between the two terms- employee engagement and employee experience.

In this podcast, Cornelia (Conny) Kunert puts forward her view on the rising focus on employee engagement and a growing understanding of the value of the employee experience. She shares the "moments that matter" which are crucial encounter instances that decide whether or not an employee can remain involved with the organization. Here, you will also learn why it is important to concentrate on employee engagement or experience in the new world supposedly dominated by freelancers and temporary workers.

Conny Kunert is an accomplished People and Organizational Development Executive with over 25 years of experience in diverse workplace environments, cultures, and geographies, including Fortune 500. She is passionate about people, the way we want to work, and getting companies ready for the challenges they face to be attractive for top talents. She is known as a trusted mentor - someone with the ability to create and implement effective strategies, processes, and programs designed to develop organizational capabilities and improve operational effectiveness. She empowers companies to implement successful strategies for

• Employee Experience,
• Employee Engagement
• People Analytics and align businesses with people.

She has earned the title of Business Economist in Switzerland.

Connect with Conny on Linkedin

Show Notes:

(01:40) Tell us more about your HR journey in the corporate world

(03:08) Over the last few decades, there has been a rising focus on employee engagement and a growing understanding of the value of the employee experience. We know that both of them are intrinsically tied. Without a positive employee experience, engagement is highly improbable; and again, engagement is the outcome of a positive experience. So, where is the real difference between employee engagement and employee experience?

(05:07) Employee engagement and employee experience are both essential. Now when organizations are constantly faced with the challenge of how to deal in both of these fields, particularly in the face of a global pandemic and social and racial unrest, putting the people first would always stay as a priority. Leaders, especially, must demonstrate that commitment and expertise are top priorities by words and deeds. How would you like to highlight the role of leadership in maintaining higher levels of engagement or experience?

Read our blog on: 25 Leadership Qualities That Makes You A Good Leader

(07:48) Employee engagement and experience efforts need time to be fruitful. Does focusing on employee engagement or employee experience even make sense in a world supposedly dominated by freelancers and short-term employees?

(09:53) So would like to share some ideas to engage gig workers?

(10:48) Right, here I have a quote with me Maya Angelou, an American poet, and civil rights activist, famously said, "People will forget what you said, people will also forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel". Employees' perceptions of their employers are primarily shaped by how businesses make them feel. These vital moments, also known as "moments that matter" are the crucial encounter instances that decide whether or not an employee can remain involved with the organization. What are some of these moments that companies can leverage to deliver a superlative employee experience?

(14:40) How effective are rewards and recognition in employee engagement?

(16:35) What suggestions would you give to our listeners?

(17:45) Any HR book or HR leader you follow.

(21:18) How can our listeners reach out to you?

People of today make conscious decisions- be it life or work. In life, they safeguard their own interests. At work, the “Equal Employment Opportunity” act protects it for them.

With the evolving world, the nature of work-life has changed as well. But there is one major business change that we have seen. That change is known as Equal Employment Opportunity or EEO. This has enabled workplaces to empower the employees and promote a diverse workforce.

EEO has set some golden standards. In return, it significantly improves and enhances organizational performance in the long run. With EEO, skilled people are given equal chances to showcase their talents. Meanwhile, companies benefit from the new ideas and creativity that they bring to the table.

But what is it exactly? This article will discuss the definition and the advantages of practicing EEO.

What is Equal Employment Opportunity?

“All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talent.” -John F. Kennedy

Equal employment opportunity refers to the concept of treating all equally in terms of employment. There is no discrimination based on race, gender, religion, ethnicity, color, age, disability, or other factors.

To reduce the chances of discrimination, many countries have introduced specific laws. Organizations have to follow these laws and adhere to them strictly.

Some cases of EEO are the Employment Act of 1967 for the US or Articles 15 and 16 for India. Many countries have their own version of EEO. But the aim remains the same. To promote equal opportunities for everyone.

There are federal agencies that ensure the implementation of EEO acts and rules. The work of these agencies is to-

• Prohibit discrimination

• Promote gender equality

• Create awareness about LGBTQIA+ rights

• Check whether the organizations are following federal laws

• Look after any complaint and solve them swiftly

Without EEO, employees and managers are more inclined towards burnout. They feel the risk of missing out on growth opportunities. This hampers their morale and ability to work with efficiency.

Learn More: 5 Solution to Resolve Manager Burnout

5 Advantages of Equal Employment Opportunity

“I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.” - Nelson Mandela

1. Promotes Diversity

People of various backgrounds, ethnicities, races, genders, etc., make up an organization's workforce. We call this a diverse workforce. Diversity is strongly linked to the concept of equal opportunity in companies.

This enables individuals to break free from the orthodox thought processes prevailing in the corporate world. It diminishes prejudice and creates a friendly work environment.

With the existence of diversity in the workplace, employees tend to:

In return, it results in a productive and efficient workforce. Thus, improving the company’s bottom line in the long run.

Recommended Resource: Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace: A Guide

2. Right Developmental Opportunities

Employees seek to develop and learn in their careers. They do not want to stop their growth. As a leader, you need to understand their needs.

One of the best ways to aid progress is by granting equal employment opportunities.

It opens up a path for the employees to learn from a diverse peer group. With EEO, employees can:

It’s about having the right set of people that can make the difference. It builds great bonds, enhances collaboration, and boosts communication.

3. Good Organizational Reputation

People are always on the lookout for a company with a strong brand reputation. To build that reputation, you need an employee-centric work culture. It helps in establishing a valuable market presence.

A strong reputation is built from the grounds up. In today’s age, a lack of providing equal opportunities can be damaging to your brand. Here’s how EEO can help your company:

The brand reputation must be maintained in the long term. A good reputation will improve your branding and value in the competitive market.

4. Elevated Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is a major concern for companies. But most ideas targeting engagement are outdated and ineffective.

That can limit the progress of your efforts in the long term. Therefore, from time to time, one needs to experiment with new ideas. One such concept is the practice of equal employment opportunity.

When organizations provide equal opportunity for all to work, it facilitates a good work environment. It helps in:

Keep in mind that employees love a diverse work environment. And with the help of EEO, you can build a truly inclusive culture.

5. Provides a Vast Pool of Talents

As a leader, you know there is an ongoing war over talents. And to hire the right people, you must make some significant changes.

You need to be thoughtful and provide equal opportunities to everyone. The hiring needs to be done based on skills and competencies. The bias factor based on discrimination should not exist. It is not a healthy practice.

With EEO, leaders can now do that. They can:

Recommended Article: Diversity Hiring: 7 Effective Ways For Recruiting Diverse Employees

The Need for Equal Employment Opportunity

“We live in a moment when the dream of equal opportunity is within reach.” -Barack Obama

With the rise in globalization and digitization, the need for a capable workforce is critical. Therefore, you need to make sure that your organization excels in every aspect.

And to do that, the need for an equal employment opportunity is vital. When you opt for such practices, it opens up a whole section of skilled people waiting to be hired.

But sometimes, the numbers tell a different story.

• According to a study, 47% of applicants have felt that nationality plays a significant role in the selection process.

• Moreover, the study also found that 52% of the respondents have been discriminated against when it came to political affiliation.

Another survey states that about 3 in 5 older workers have experienced age discrimination in the workplace.

These stats make it even more critical for the organizations to facilitate a system that would encourage EEO. And end discrimination for the greater good of the corporate world.

Summing it Up!

Equal employment is everyone’s right. That is something one cannot take away from people. Organizations need to acknowledge this fact and practice fair opportunities for everyone. Creating awareness is vital, and leaders need to adopt the idea of EEO.

It might take time. But at the end of the day, the focus should be on creating a positive environment for the employees. When an organization successfully creates the desired workplace, it elevates productivity. Moreover, employees become efficient and confident in their work. Also, teams collaborate well to accomplish the long-term goals of the organization.

Mrinmoy Rabha is a content writer and digital marketer at Vantage Circle. He is an avid follower of football and passionate about singing. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

No industry is perfect. But the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (or BFSI) have an infamous reputation for being tough and challenging- more so for its employees.

And it makes sense.

Such intense work conditions make workers feel nervous, anxious, and vulnerable to burnout. When people go through this at work, it creates a sense of disengagement.

By disengagement, we mean when people feel demotivated, detached, or unhappy at work.

All in all, it's bad news for you because disengagement has the power to hurt your business's bottom line.

Performance appraisal was a familiar practice in which employees and managers sat down for an annual assessment. If the workers were fortunate, they walked away with raises. Nobody really liked it, but in the old corporate model of command and control, this seemed like a great thing.

Today, with the widespread focus on collaboration, joint leadership, and an ongoing fight to find and retain professional workers, it's a model that is gradually falling out of favor. It has been getting a lot of bad publicity. Almost 51% of employees believe that performance appraisals are inaccurate.

This actually raises a lot of questions and doubts about the worthiness of the standard performance appraisal system.

However, gradually we can see the entire process change. Managers are diving deeper than the traditional performance appraisal process to gain the most out of it.

In this podcast, let’s know more about performance appraisal from Kyle Chetty. Kyle here, explains its goals and forwards his views on modern and traditional performance appraisal methods, and explains how important it is now when people are trying to adapt to a new working environment brought in by Covid-19.

Also Read: Work From Home Policy: A Definitive Guide For Managers

Based out of South Africa, Kyle Chetty is an HR Executive with over 11 years of experience in the HR fraternity. He was recently awarded the Young CHRO of the year and named Top 100 Inspirational leaders of 2021. He was also nominated as HR Director of the year, and best HR strategy for the year. He has completed his B.Com Honours degree in HR Management and a Bcom degree in HR and Marketing. He is an avid food lover and very much a family man.

Connect with Kyle Chetty on Linkedin

Show Notes:

(01:44) Can we start by giving listeners a quick introduction to your background and your vision for HR?

(03:07) What is performance appraisal? And what are the goals of performance evaluations?

(04:08) What to consider when doing performance evaluations? Why performance appraisal is critical in today’s organization?

(06:20) What are your views on modern and traditional performance appraisal methods? How the entire process has changed over the years?

(09:46) Is it time for some smarter performance appraisal? What are the recent trends in performance appraisal methods?

(15:30) How do you relate rewards and recognition to performance appraisal?

(18:40) How important is performance appraisal when people are trying to adapt to a new working environment brought in by Covid-19?

(22:30)How to avoid biases in performance appraisal?

Read our blog on: How to Outsmart Unconscious Bias In Recruitment

(29:28) Suggestions to HRs on why they should take up performance evaluation be conducted accurately?

With the changing dynamics of the corporate world, it’s not only employees that need to develop. They need to adapt and upskill to improve their overall performance. It is what your managers need too. Thus, coaching for managers is something that every company needs to seriously consider.

The ever-growing corporate market demands managers to become experts in their field of work. The more upskilled your managers are, the better will they adapt to changes. This further supports the managers both professionally and personally. However, without a robust coaching system, it becomes difficult for managers to train the employees and make them proficient in their job.

But how does coaching for managers help an organization? And how can you, as a leader, facilitate the proper coaching practices? Let’s take a look.

What is Coaching For Managers?

Coaching for managers is a leadership practice that focuses on upskilling and developing the managers. The purpose of this practice is to train managers to be better leaders and build a stronger team.
Here’s a scenario for you.

Imagine if a manager lacks the proper knowledge about a particular topic. This shortcoming can confuse the employees as the manager will not guide them in the right direction. It will halt the progress of a workforce and increase frustration.

Managers need to holistically increase their skills over time and adapt well to changes.

Without an adequate understanding of how to deal with modernization, it becomes difficult for managers to put forward new ideas and foster innovation. This can have a negative impact in the long run for both the employees and the organization.

5 Coaching Skills for Managers That Will Help the growth of the Employees

1. Know how to Delegate

Not every manager has an understanding of how delegation works. People mistake delegation with dictatorship. There are also cases where managers are on the authoritative side. They do not delegate but misuse their power and authority. That can be detrimental to the employees’ morale.

However, as a leader, the managers must be taught how to practice delegation appropriately. You can conduct sessions focusing solely on delegation and how managers can do it effectively.

The focus should be on:

With the right approach and coaching for managers, they can learn the suitable way to assign the tasks. Doing so will increase the efficiency of their team and accomplish remarkable success.

2. The Art of Communicating Well

Driving success is not about setting expectations without onboarding the team first. The reality is different. It is about transparently communicating with the employees.

The art of communication helps in:

As a leader, you might be aware of the fact that communication is a two-way process. Therefore, to instill a proper communication channel, you need to be concise about the message you want to convey.

On the other hand, you need to listen to others as well and understand their perspective. It is a skill that can be honed with time and with the correct coaching practices.

Your managers should know how pivotal communication is for a team. They need to be aware of this fact. And proper coaching for managers helps in educating them and upskilling their communication skills.

This, in return, will assist the managers in connecting with their team members and bringing improved efficiency.

3. Ability to Ask the Right Questions

A diverse workforce consists of employees that come from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and races. In addition, every person has a varying thought process and mindset. In between all that, the chances of a conflict increase with time. And resolving it as soon as possible is the best possible option to maintain harmony.

But do your managers have the required skills to solve a conflict? Or do they often leave it unresolved, leading to more problems? As a leader, you need to contemplate whether how proficient they are while dealing with a conflict.

To resolve any conflict, a manager needs to:

With the right coaching for managers, they can acquire the skills mentioned above and help teams resolve conflicts. As a leader, you can provide paid classes to elevate their conflict resolution skills. This will help them in assessing the situation better and frame open-ended questions accordingly.

4. Understanding the Power of Recognition and Appreciation

Rewarding, recognizing, and appreciating the employees for their efforts is crucial for an organization. It drives job satisfaction and employee engagement in the long run.

Doing so creates a sense of loyalty that makes your people want to stay. 63% of employees recognized for their efforts are less likely to look for a new job.

However, meaningful appreciation is a skill that needs to be learned. It is how you make your employees feel valued. Managers like to believe that they are fostering a culture that is based on appreciation.

That is not the case if you look at the bigger picture. For example, more than 52% of employees feel that their rewards strategy is not aligned with organizational goals.

Now that can pose a significant challenge in promoting an engaged workforce.

As a leader, providing proper coaching for managers is the best possible way to drive the idea of rewards and recognition.

It helps in:

The method of coaching must be kept simple and understandable. This will help the managers to grasp the knowledge and implement it most efficiently.

Recommended Resource: The Ultimate Guide to Employee Rewards and Recognition

5. Fostering People Management to Promote Teamwork

Collaboration is not an easy task when you have a diverse workforce. People with varying ideas and interests will create turmoil. The main focus is, however, how skilled your managers are in people management.

Good people management helps in:

People management comes with appropriate learning and experience. Offering coaching for managers can aid in mitigating such issues. It helps in instilling good people managerial skills that in turn increase the potential of the employees. Furthermore, such skills build confidence, motivation and reduce stress during difficult situations in managers.

A workforce with great teamwork has the potential to accomplish complex tasks- even amidst challenges. Therefore, the focus should be on elevating a managers’ overall understanding of managing the workforce without compromising productivity. A good manager helps in achieving this goal faster.

Summing it Up!

Coaching for managers is an effective way to leverage the learning capabilities of a manager. It is a given fact that employees learn from their managers. And as a manager, you must improve and develop yourself.

The critical thing to remember is how coaching will help the organization perform better in such a vast market. This will help you in elevating employee performance in the long run. If you have any more suggestions, do let us know in the comments below.

Mrinmoy Rabha is a content writer and digital marketer at Vantage Circle. He is an avid follower of football and passionate about singing. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

With job satisfaction and employee engagement being two of HR’s biggest concerns in the last decade, it’s surprising that many people don’t know the difference between them.

But before getting ahead of ourselves, here is an important question for you:

How many of your people are truly engaged?

Chances are, it’s lower than you think. For Example, studies say that in an average company, only 32% are actively engaged. Meanwhile, 50.8% are not engaged, and 17.2% are actively disengaged employees.

This is a big reason why engaging people have been a top priority for global companies in the last decade.

We get it. Engaging your people is easier said than done. However, the benefits actually make the efforts worthwhile. Engaged employees feel happier, excited, and less likely to leave their jobs.

When your people genuinely feel engaged, your business outcomes will see positive growth as well.

Yet, for engagement to happen, the foundation needs to be strong. And that is where the concept of job satisfaction comes in.

Difference Between Job Satisfaction And Employee Engagement

Wait. Doesn’t job satisfaction and employee engagement mean the same thing?
Well, not quite.

Employee engagement is the emotional connection with the company that impacts a person’s dedication and belonging. The more engaged a person is, the more likely they are to display higher levels of loyalty.

On the other hand, job satisfaction is when an employee enjoys the work they do.

Thus, job satisfaction is not driven by a person’s sense of pride. It is instead fuelled by the fulfillment of doing what they love.

It is not a prerequisite that a satisfied employee should also be an engaged one. But for engagement to happen, it’s essential that a worker at least likes- if not loves- the work they do.

However, the fact remains. To drive better business outcomes, both- job satisfaction and employee engagement- need to be sustained.

Ignoring one to improve the other, or worse- mistaking them for being the same will prove to be expensive for you. Turnover will rise, loyalty will suffer, and your culture will get affected.

As a leader, it is a top priority that you avoid such a scenario from happening.

We have outlined some key factors that influence job satisfaction and employee engagement:

Factors That Influence Employee Engagement

Improving employee engagement is about finding the right balance between what your employees want and what they need.

While meeting every employee's expectation is unfeasible, there are key factors that make your people feel valued. Let’s take a look.

1. Rewards and Recognition

If done in a timely and frequent way, rewards and recognition can be powerful motivators.

There is one thing that we know for sure. When people feel appreciated, seen, and valued for their work, it fosters a deep sense of belonging in them.

Rewards and recognition- given in a meaningful way- are the key to inspiring such loyalty.

While rewards are economical, recognition is an emotional event that inspires motivation.

The goal is to create an employee-centric work environment where effort is valued. When such a culture of appreciation happens, employees tend to bring their A-game to work.

2. Work Environment

Your company's work environment has a significant impact on whether people feel engaged and happy at work.

If a leader has tried every possible engagement tactic and failed, the work environment should be the next focus.

An ultra-competitive, toxic, and non-inclusive work environment will wreck any good engagement strategies. Such a work environment pits peers against peers and makes people want to exit.

People seek belonging and value, especially in their workplaces. A big part of that lies in feeling psychologically safe.

Engagement is hard to achieve until your people feel safe, respected and included in the workplace. Respectful treatment of employees at all levels is a must-have for any modern company.

A toxic work environment will destroy any other positive aspect of your culture. To build a company that inspires loyalty, start with the work environment.

3. Employee Benefits

Today’s employees want more than a great paycheck. They want a comprehensive benefits package to go along with it. So to keep your best talent, you must provide an attractive enough benefits package.

In fact, companies that focus on pay and benefits recorded 56% lower turnover.

Employee benefits are more than about recruiting and retaining your top workers. The right benefits have the power to enhance your people’s work-life balance.

Benefits such as health insurance, maternity leave, and tuition reimbursement help in the lead. It is why today’s top talents are concerned about getting the best possible compensation package while joining a new company.

To motivate people to do their best work, offer a mix of monetary and non-monetary incentives that enhance their work-life quality.

4. Company Culture

The company culture of any organization is the most known yet underrated factor. It is because, unlike other engagement measures- improving the company culture is not fast or instantaneous.

Also, the time, efforts, and money required to enhance it are significantly greater. Also, unlike other factors, company culture is influenced by multiple sub-factors such as:

• Appreciation based practices
• Diversity and inclusion
• Fair and non-toxic
• The right people
• The leadership practices

… and many more. A workplace with a poor company culture will result in people leaving faster than they arrive. Thus, companies must focus on building the ideal company culture from the ground up. A couple of factors that companies need to consider are:

• Deciding what the core values, mission, and vision will be
• Focusing on drafting the brand message
• Defining the leadership roles and finding the right people for it
• Placing importance of building a people-first culture

Factors That Influence Job Satisfaction

Satisfied employees are so because they are genuinely interested and happy with the work they do.

Job satisfaction is when people can strive in their careers, supporting them in achieving their goals.

While job satisfaction and employee engagement might not be the same, there is a vital fact that we can’t ignore. When people are satisfied with their jobs, they are more likely to be engaged as well.

When you focus on boosting satisfaction, a large part of engagement gets reshaped as well.

Let’s take a look at the factors that influence employees’ levels of job satisfaction:

1. Career Development Opportunities

Career advancement is an integral aspect of most people’s work-life balance. As a result, it is critical to provide a stable job and ensure that growth does not stall.

Professional success is one of the most empowering aspects of anyone’s life. For any capable employee, the need to upskill and grow is a major priority.

If your people are not talking with you about their growth, they might already think of a career shift. And probably not with your company.

Thus, companies need to see and offer similar career growth opportunities.
When people are encouraged to learn, develop, and are set up for success by their employers, they are more likely to be happy with their work.

Career development opportunities can vary from person to person. Here are some examples of what it may look like:

• Promotions
• Regular training and development opportunities
• Staff exchange programs
• Side project support
• Mentor programs
• Job rotation

2. Job Security

In an economy where everything is uncertain, job security is the most valuable asset for any aspiring job seeker. When people join a company, they expect to receive the same amount of loyalty from them.

Such a mutual relationship of respect will inspire employees to go above and beyond for the job they do. Thus, any business that wants to hire the best people should focus on providing a high level of job security to its employees.

Offering job security can be the most vital thing you can do to boost satisfaction. It advances your brand reputation, bottom line and draws some really talented people.

People who are happy with their work lives will show their dedication to the company through improved performance and productivity.

3. Work-Life Balance

Millennials demand a healthy work-life balance to remain satisfied with their jobs.

People will not be content with their jobs unless they can devote time to their personal lives. Modern workers seek new-age benefits like flexible work, paid vacations, and parental leaves.

Such benefits allow people to grow professionally without compromising on their mental health. In the long run, people with poor work-life balance will
People are more likely to quit if the job causes high stress, tension, and anxiety in their personal lives.

As a result, their work quality will decline, affecting its bottom line in the long run. So, like a domino effect, your people will stop enjoying their work and will eventually quit.

What's Next?

How do job satisfaction and employee engagement impact your daily company operations? Do you have any more insights into how to enhance either of them? We’d love to hear it in the comments below.

This article is written by Barasha Medhi who is a part of the marketing team at Vantage Circle. Barasha can be found either searching for interesting HR buzzwords to write about or looking at pictures of cozy Bel Air mansions. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com.

COVID-19 pandemic has forced many employers to make complex business decisions. It has necessitated them reducing their workforces through layoffsand, often, terminations. But, this crisis will pass soon. And when it does, companies must prepare themselves to keep their best staff and resume work. As a result, employee engagement is now more critical in all sectors. But, it is especially vital in the hospitality industry.

Offering the best customer service is the motto of the hospitality industry. Your workers are your sole brand ambassadors. A single blunder may mean the difference between a satisfied and an angry customer. Keeping them happy is the best way to keep them around and pleased with their employment. Also, engaged workers are better at presenting consumers with the best possible experience.

According to research by the Science Direct-

• COVID-19 harmed the engagement of employees at deluxe hotels. It is due to feelings of job insecurity.

• Employees who do not have a high level of workplace commitment are more likely to leave.

• COVID-19 induced work insecurity is a significant factor in declining workplace engagement.

Now the question is -

What can these employers do to stay linked and promote employee engagement?

6 Ideas To Foster Employee Engagement In the Hospitality Industry

1. Rewards and Recognition

According to a report, hospitality workers have different preferences for rewards and recognition. Thus, hospitality organizations must consider creating a well-balanced yet flexible reward-recognition framework. It should motivate workers to reach organizational goals while meeting their own needs.

Integrate with Vantage Circle and enrich your work culture. We offer you modern employee rewards, on-spot recognition, feedback, and wellness strategies.

2. Freebies

In the hospitality industry, it's essential to remember efforts at all work levels. Right from housekeeping to the front desk, making them feel special is vital. It’s always a good idea to provide them freebies like fresh fruits, coffee, or soft drinks throughout the day. It will keep your employees energized and refreshed. And it is quite an inexpensive idea too!

3. Compensatory Time

The hospitality industry depends on customer's disposable income and leisure time. So, customer satisfaction is its topmost priority. As a result, there is constant work, which can affect these workers' lives. Therefore, a little break is often the best thing you can offer a hospitality employee. Long hours become bearable if you know you'll be able to rest for a day or a few hours soon.

4. Friendly Competitions

Friendly competition among employees can benefit organizational sales, employee productivity, and employee engagement. Incentivize your employees for achieving their targets and sometimes, for giving their best.

5. Development Opportunities

The hospitality industry employs a diverse workforce with a wide range of jobs. Clerks, suppliers, and managers have different requirements than cleaning staff and restaurant servers. But, since your workforce reflects the hotel's hospitality culture, you must train everyone. Many people who work in the hospitality industry start at the bottom and work their way up. Thus, in the hospitality industry, employee training and development are essential. It helps to have a consistency about how they act and how they do things.

The hospitality industry can offer a wide range of training opportunities. Good workplace communication skills are an essential asset for employers and employees. Like, every hotel employee must know how to communicate with their guests. Your staff may not know your guest's background. So, learning to work with people from different backgrounds is essential. Also, visitors view the workforce as a single entity. That calls for teamwork and diversity training.

Also read: Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace: A Guide

Also, prepare your employees in case of natural disasters or possible terrorist activity. Train them with basic safety procedures like first aid.

6. Communication Opportunities

You can help your employees work together by cultivating a sense of connectivity. A successful employee scheduling tool will also provide a team communication function better. It allows employees to connect and coordinate with their coworkers from their smartphones.

Remember, employees would be more dedicated to their jobs if they can connect both on and off the clock. So make team meals a tradition, organize social, team-building activities for employees outside of work. You can also plan holiday parties to foster a sense of community among your employees.

This article is written by Susmita Sarma, a podcast host and content creator at Vantage Circle. She was involved with media relations before shifting her interest in research and creative writing. Apart from being a classical music buff, she keeps a keen interest in anchoring and cooking. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Soft skills, also known as "interpersonal" or "people skills," are essential for day-to-day interactions both inside and outside the workplace, and they complement technological or hard skills. Soft skills refer to how people connect, listen, participate in conversations, provide input, work as part of a team, solve problems, and resolve disputes.

They are a collection of positive characteristics and abilities that can increase job performance and efficiency, improve relationships, and make a person more marketable in the workplace.

Soft skills in the workplace typically deal with interpersonal interaction—basically, communicating well with others and maintaining a positive attitude about the job and work environment. It includes skills such as communication and active listening, conflict resolution, constructive partnerships, teamwork and cooperation, personality, humility, openness to feedback, displaying strong levels of emotional intelligence. These abilities are more important to your personality than your academic or professional credentials.

According to 92 percent of talent acquisition practitioners in LinkedIn's Global Talent Trends report, soft skills are equally or more important to recruit for than hard skills. And, according to 89 percent of respondents, when a new recruit doesn't work out, it's due to a lack of essential soft skills.

When it comes to HR, soft skills in the workplace are critically essential. Although HR practitioners are required to recognize and adopt HR practices and regulations, it is also critical that they have the requisite soft skills to succeed in the field.

Read our blog on: 7 HR Practices Your Business Needs To Put In Place

The Top 8 HR Soft Skills In The Workplace

1. Proactivity skills

Proactivity is a personality attribute rather than a skill. It is, however, something that we can learn over time. As an HR professional, you are the link between the employer and the employee. Being proactive will assist you in identifying possible issues early and preventing them from worsening. Proactive HRM aids in the planning and aligning core HR activities to provide the most benefit to the business.

2. Confidentiality skills

HR departments handle sensitive employee information such as salaries. They are also aware of personal issues concerning staff members. It's important to place value and protect such critical security details. HR practitioners must develop the following skills to ensure that they protect privacy:

Ethics: Members of the HR department have access to organizational data such as contract terms, budgets, wages, and offer letters. It's important that they don't discuss or mention such data unnecessarily and retain their integrity at all times.

Confidence- HR professionals must inculcate confidence in their employees. Employees who disagree with a company policy or have a problem with their boss should contact Human Resources. They must, however, feel confident that raising a concern would not jeopardize their jobs.

Self-control - Disclosing an employee's personal information (such as medical history) can place the employee in an awkward position while also increasing the company's legal risks. Great HR professionals treat confidential information with respect. As research says, self control is one of the top soft skills in the workplace that employers look for.

3. Flexibility skills

Unexpected events (such as a resignation) can throw not only the HR's but also the team's schedule into a mess. HR team members must build the following skills to adapt to or even anticipate changes:

• Change management- To keep up with industry trends and expectations, businesses must evolve. HR is frequently in charge of these projects, so you must be adaptable. HR is all about going forward, from collaborating with the management team to develop new policies — and assisting workers
  in adjusting to them — to identifying and introducing new perks to attract and retain employees. To be competitive in this industry, you must be able to accept change. You should be able to tell when it's time to amend strategies, when it's time to build new ones, and how to help workers accept change (e.g., assisting employees in transitioning into new roles.)
  

• Self-evaluation and development- Never get too comfortable in the workplace if you want to keep it safe. HR workers with an improved attitude will help keep the workplace modernized with better employee engagement (for example, by incorporating creative rewards and recognition ideas)

• Think about the big picture- HR practitioners are corporate associates who contribute to strategic planning and decision-making. They must be able to predict the future and act accordingly. As your company expands, it can make sense for HRs to invest in current employees by developing and implementing career path programs.

4. Sharing skills

HR should include some key soft skills to understand employees better and ideas for developing them. They can help the employees improve their own soft skills in the workplace.

Knowledge is a wealth; the more you distribute/ share, the more you gain.

You are fortunate and in an extraordinary place in the HR profession because you can help people grow. You can help them advance in their careers. You can improve their lives. You can assist them in altering their mindset and behavior. You can train them to be competitive in their future endeavors. Thus, HR has a vital and significant part in sharing, developing, coaching, and mentoring coworkers.

5. Clarity of thoughts

We have two choices in most scenarios and circumstances: either we want to do it or we don't want to do it; either we consent to it, or we don't consent to it; either it is acceptable, or it is not acceptable; either you want, or you don't want it. Many HR professionals seem to be puzzled when it comes to making choices. They remain unsure of their role within the organization and don't have any specific expectations from themselves and their team. Due to their uncertainty, they cannot make decisions. And until they don't have clarity of thoughts before their actions, they cannot take the right path. When analyzing problems like a conflict or crisis (such as layoffs), HRs should use sound reasoning, evaluate potential options and take effective action.

Also Read: Laying Off An Employee During Covid: A Quick Guide

6. Recognizing skills

Leaders and managers are not required to be buddies with their staff or coworkers, but they must be courteous. Having friendly relationships with coworkers and team makes work more fruitful and efficient.

To strengthen relationships and build a stronger bond:

• Say something else than "hello."
  Greetings aren't enough. It's often necessary to get down to the main point – a mission, a deadline, a critical issue, and so on. Similarly, it's important to display empathy and concern towards the employees when the situation arises. Ask about something that interests your colleagues rather than a generic "How are you?"
  

• Demonstrate gratitude
  Thank staff and coworkers for their efforts. Don't wait until the completion of a project or annual evaluations. You can also express gratitude for the little things they bring to the table, such as a good sense of humor, a keen eye for mistakes, a spotless workstation, and a positive attitude.
  

• Recognize feelings
  Work and life are emotional roller coasters. Leaders don't have to respond to every high and low, but they should fix the ones they notice. For example, "You seem irritated and nervous lately. Is there anything I can do to help?"
  

• Pay attention
  Actively listen to your employees. Enable them to express their concerns and ideas in a variety of ways. Offer them a platform at department meetings, schedule one-on-one sessions regularly, set up a employee feedback box or an anonymous email account for submissions, and so on.
  

Read our blog on: 360 Degree Feedback: Definition, Benefits, Alternatives

• Be fair
  Being fair is one of the most needed soft skills in the workplace. Unfair treatment is one of the worst things that can happen to a company's morale. HR must not turn a blind eye to wrong results or play favorites while rewarding and recognizing. It's best to keep track of what has happened in response to good and poor conduct so that leaders can have a reference solution if the problem occurs again.
  

7. Problem-solving skills

This old saying still holds true,

Don't just bring me a problem, bring me a solution.

We always expect HRs to express their thoughts about how to solve problems. But it's not only their burden to uphold. HR experts must serve as investigators when solving problems. They must delve deep into the issue, ask probing questions, gather information, examine, draw conclusions, and take corrective action.

8. Detail-oriented and reasoning skills

Being detail-oriented is essential in this line of work. One may reveal small but essential information if you review a candidate's references in detail. You must go above and beyond to gather — or provide — information that paints a complete picture of an individual or circumstance.

How Do You Go About Perfecting Your Soft Skills In The Workplace?

The truth is that our lives and experiences provide the foundation for soft skills growth. Parenting, for example, fosters self-awareness, time management, and dynamic problem-solving abilities. Similarly, confidentiality, adaptability, and problem-solving skills are typically acquired as you gain expertise in your field.

Thus, to develop your soft skills, read books or take training courses on negotiation and persuasion, critical listening, empathy, and conflict management. You can also attend public speaking masterclasses or seek guidance from your colleagues in the company.

Team building activities can have a significant impact on your ability to collaborate effectively. It's also beneficial to get to know and enjoy your coworkers. When it comes to displaying your leadership qualities, gaining your coworkers' confidence and approval can help.

Due to the lockdown, every employee has gained certain soft skills such as self-determination, resilience, and empathy. The way we work has changed dramatically, pushing us to adopt new habits, new ways of interacting with coworkers, and emphasizing the importance of soft skills.

Employers are constantly demanding to find candidates with soft skills, and it will be highly critical to surviving in a competitive job market in the aftermath of Covid-19. Isn't it the right time you added some soft skills to your resume?

This article is written by Susmita Sarma, a podcast host and content creator at Vantage Circle. She was involved with media relations before shifting her interest in research and creative writing. Apart from being a classical music buff, she keeps a keen interest in anchoring and cooking. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Employee engagement plays a pivotal role in today’s growing corporate world. From recognizing employees to elevating job satisfaction levels, employee engagement is the key to organizational success. HR managers must understand the organization’s right employee engagement strategies to improve the workforce’s overall efficiency. With the changing dynamics and fast-paced industrialization, the need for a robust employee engagement strategy has increased with time. From the aviation industry to the e-commerce sector, companies have now started to acknowledge the importance of employee engagement.

Let’s not forget how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected every sector of the corporate world and forced organizations to opt for work from home policies. While most of the corporate sectors did have the flexibility to adapt to work from home, few industries did not have any choice and work on-site.

One such sector was the automobile industry. This particular industry saw a massive decline in sales while the whole world went into lockdown and incurred huge revenue losses. Organizations were forced to let go of their employees and decrease salaries, resulting in higher levels of burnout and much more. This harmed the overall morale and engagement of the workforce.

However, with an appropriate employee engagement strategy, organizations can turn the tables and retain their prized assets while improving performance in the long run.

This article will focus on the engagement strategies, especially for the automobile industry to improve the employees’ overall morale.

Employee engagement strategies that will help the automobile industry

1. The Power of Rewards and Recognition

As an HR manager, you might be wondering if it is possible to facilitate a system of rewarding and recognizing employees on time. Well, the answer to that question is an obvious ‘yes’. The focus should be on curating a system that caters to the employees’ critical needs and requirements. It’s about understanding their perspectives and respecting their opinions.

Rewards do not have to be necessarily monetary. Few words of appreciation for their dedication can do wonders in improving the overall morale. During such difficult times, the care which you will show towards your employees will matter the most. Employees crave acknowledgment, and managers must focus on the same to elevate job satisfaction. When you appreciate employees for their hard work, it establishes good work ethics, improves productivity, and builds enthusiasm to do better.

And to help you with rewarding and recognizing your employees, Vantage Rewards provides a complete one-stop solution in elevating the employee engagement efforts of the organization. The rewarding platform allows the users to connect with the workforce in an interactive way and help increase employee morale in the long term.

Know More: Vantage Rewards- Helping Elevate Your Employee Engagement Efforts

2. Communication

Communication has always been a crucial part of a workforce that excels well in work. It is a two-way street. Employers and employees have to be transparent and work together to accomplish tremendous success. The current scenario of the pandemic has made communication even more essential to keep the daily operations intact.

Here is a quick question for you. How well is your internal communication, or rather how well do the leaders and the employees communicate? If the answer is yes, then you are on the right path towards an engaged workforce. However, if the communication is not effective, then it signifies you must work on improving it for the greater good.

Do not forget that your employees are the backbone of your business, and keeping them updated about every critical piece of information is a must. They have the right to know what is going on internally and externally. Include them in every decision if possible so that the matters stay transparent. It will help you open up to new ideas and build strong trust and mutual respect in the future.

3. Reinventing the Function of HR

A study was done by Mckinsey where they found that half of the HR respondents in the automotive industry were never functioning properly to deploy the right talent for the organization. If you consider this survey, then it can pose a threat to your employee engagement efforts in the long run.

When you hire a new candidate for a vacant position, the hiring managers need to make sure that they are the right fit for the organizational culture and the job you have to offer. New employees need to understand their roles. If they are not clear about their expectations, it can harm their productivity and decrease morale.

If we talk about the automobile industry per se, then it is critical that the employees perform at their best. The essential factor here is that the industry itself is based on customer success. They have to deal with the general public and keep them satisfied directly. But if the employees themselves are not satisfied with their job, it can negatively affect the customers’ overall experience.

To keep the workforce happy and engaged, the HR department has to revolutionize the way they worked. They have to think out of the box and facilitate ways to elevate employee engagement while keeping their traditional roles intact. It should be more about people management rather than managing people. The main focus should shift towards building an employee-centric culture while elevating the overall customer experience.

4. Surveys and Feedback

Organizations in the present era are pretty much reliant on employee surveys that help generate critical feedback. In fact, 52% of senior managers think surveys provide a very accurate assessment of reality. Conducting surveys and giving importance to the feedback from the employees is essential to keep the workforce motivated. It is one of the best employee engagement strategies that a leader can facilitate.

When we talk about pulse surveys and employee feedback in terms of the automobile industry, it becomes crucial. You may ask why it is important precisely for this particular industry? There are two essential factors to it-

• The first is the existence of the industry geographically

• The second is the number of employees that this particular industry consists of

Taking care of the employees of such a vast workforce can be a difficult task. And the main challenge arises when you have to cater to the employees with limited knowledge about employee engagement. You have to make them aware of the concept and help them understand pulse surveys and employee feedback. Facilitate a workflow that will help the employees to get a clear grasp of what the organization wants to achieve.

You need to have a strategic approach of how you are going to conduct the surveys and heed to the employees’ feedback. The surveys should be employee-centric that can help you figure out the problems faced by the employees. Make sure that the queries and questions are resolved in a timely fashion. Doing so will help the leaders maintain a good working relationship with their employees while establishing high engagement and trust within the organization.

Recommended Resource: The Ultimate Guide to Employee Pulse Surveys

5. Employee Well-Being

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the dynamics of how we used to work before. But most importantly, it made afloat the fact that employee well-being was much more important than any other aspect of people management. With no socializing and long periods of isolation, it took a heavy toll on mental health. On top of that, the pandemic has also resulted in companies laying off their employees that have resulted in job insecurity. Thus, increasing stress levels, anxiety, hypertension, and a drop in productivity.

All of these are few factors that have played a part in deteriorating the overall mental and physical health of your employees. The crucial aspect however is to find a solution through which you can minimize the after-effects and care for your employees’ well-being.

As a manager, you can introduce programs that can help decrease mental stress or conduct virtual events that can improve physical health. Moreover, the most important thing to keep in mind is that you need to show empathy, understand their problems, provide a helping hand in the time of need, and acknowledge their work in every possible way. The main objective is to keep the workforce happy, highly motivated, and satisfied to improve their overall performance and engagement levels.

Summing it Up!

Implementing the right employee engagement strategy will need patience and an approach that will be the right fit for the organization. As a manager, you need to figure out the best possible way that will not only increase the overall engagement of the workforce but also improve the bottom line. If you have any more suggestions, do let us know in the comments below.

Mrinmoy Rabha is a content writer and digital marketer at Vantage Circle. He is an avid follower of football and passionate about singing. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Last September, we talked about the importance of collecting employee feedback — and how to effectively do so.

To be sure, engaging with your long-time employees will benefit your business in several ways:

• Improves individual and team-wide productivity
• Increases employee enthusiasm, satisfaction, and loyalty
• Strengthens your team’s overall culture

But, you should also be focused on collecting feedback from your new employees throughout the onboarding process.

This is exactly what we’ll be discussing today.

Why You Should Collect Employee Feedback Throughout Onboarding (and Beyond)

The onboarding process is when your new employees begin to really learn about your organization.

It’s also when you can really get to learn about them — on both a professional and personal level.

That is, as long as you take advantage of the opportunity.

Let’s take a look at three key reasons to focus on collecting feedback from your new employees throughout the onboarding experience.

1. Optimize the Individual’s Onboarding Experiences

First things first, collecting feedback from a new hire will allow you to improve the onboarding experience for that specific employee.

This just makes sense: By understanding what’s going well (and what isn’t) for the individual, your onboarding team can make laser-focused improvements to their experience moving forward.

For a given employee, you might need to:

• Review and focus on a specific process they’re struggling with
• Pair them with an expert on your team to help them through a certain procedure
• Deliver additional information and/or resources to supercharge their efforts

By keeping in touch with your new hires throughout their onboarding experience, you’ll know what needs to be done to help them at any given moment. According to SHRM, providing this structure throughout the onboarding process can improve employee engagement by up to 54%.

Collecting feedback from your new hires, then, is essential for creating an agile, personalized onboarding process for all that come aboard.

2. Improve Your Overall Onboarding Process

Collecting feedback from your new hires can also help you make improvements to your onboarding processes, as well.

In fact, SHRM also reports that developing a more strategic, standardized onboarding process leads to 50% higher productivity levels from new hires.

Here, the idea is to understand where your new hires typically thrive — and where they struggle — along their onboarding journey. In addition to making improvements in real-time (as mentioned above), this will enable you to make sweeping changes to your onboarding process to ensure a smoother experience for all new hires moving forward.

By improving your employee onboarding experience, your new hires will require less assistance from your management staff throughout. In turn, this means your team will have more time, money, and energy to invest in your new hires when they require additional support.

3. Set New Employees Up for Success

One of the main goals of the employee onboarding process is to ensure your new hires can be productive in their new position.

More than just helping them get acclimated with your team’s processes, though, the onboarding experience also serves to “initiate” your new employees into your organization.

Done well, this can set the stage for a successful career with your company.

According to BambooHR:

• 89% of new hires that receive effective onboarding feel firmly integrated into the company culture
• 91% of those who received effective onboarding feel strongly connected to their team
• Employees who go through an effective onboarding experience are 18 times more likely to commit themselves to their new organization

By staying in close contact with your new hires throughout the onboarding process, you prove your dedication to their success and overall satisfaction. You’ll also be able to connect them with others within your team, allowing them to become immersed in your company culture from the get-go.

This all adds up to a clear recipe for success for your newly onboarded team members.

6 Effective Strategies for Collecting Employee Feedback During the Onboarding Process

Now that we understand just how important it is to collect employee feedback throughout the onboarding process, let’s talk about making it happen.

1. Ask for Relevant and Specific Feedback

Collecting generic feedback won’t allow you to make meaningful improvements to the onboarding experience.

That said, you need to be sure the feedback you collect is focused on a specific part of the onboarding process. This means the questions you ask (and other conversation starters) need to be just as clear.

Here, you’ll need to break down the onboarding process into “phases.” Typically, you’ll want to focus on the tasks your employees completed at different points along their journey.

For example, you’ll want the employee to discuss their experiences while learning to use your computer system, engaging with their new team members, filling out paperwork — and more. More than just focusing on specific parts of the process, you’ll want to dig into specific aspects of each of these parts.

In focusing on a specific task, you might ask them questions relating to:

• How easy or difficult it was to complete the task
• What was challenging about it
• How well the task or exercise prepared them for the next step in the onboarding process

You’ll also want to understand how your instructions, as well as any supplemental content you’d provided, helped them accomplish these tasks.

• Was the information helpful?
• Was the content comprehensive and digestible?
• Were they able to find the info/content they needed?

Similarly, ask your new hires to discuss the level of support they were given at each step of the onboarding process. Here, you’ll want to focus on both the tools they were provided and the hands-on guidance they received — and how each played a part in helping them accomplish their assigned tasks.

Finally, as your new hires begin to wrap up their initial onboarding experience (and as they dive into the “real work” associated with their position), you can start collecting feedback regarding:

• How well the experience prepared them for their workload
• How the experience met (or didn’t meet) their expectations
• How the experience allowed them to engage with their new colleagues

Again, the goal is to avoid having a generic discussion with your new hires — and get them to dig into the specifics of their initial experiences with your company.

In turn, you’ll be able to focus on these specific parts of the onboarding experience — and ensure your future hires are even more prepared to hit the ground running.

2. Ask for Feedback at the Right Moment(s)

Eliciting accurate, high-quality feedback from your new hires requires that you ask for it at just the right time.

Basically, you want to reach out when the information and experience are fresh in their minds. Otherwise, they might provide feedback that’s inaccurate, incomplete, or otherwise unusable.

Thinking high-level, you’ll want to touch base with your new hires on a regular, recurring basis. Weekly check-ins can provide insight into their most recent onboarding experiences — as well as their overall experiences up until that point.

As you collect this feedback over time, you’ll gain a clearer idea of how their onboarding experience is progressing — and how it’s preparing them for their future with your company.

You’ll also want to reach out for feedback at key moments throughout the onboarding process.

A few examples:

• When the new hire reaches a certain milestone (e.g., completes a “big picture” task)
• When a task proves to be challenging (e.g., they fail to complete a task within a certain time limit)
• When they reach out for assistance or support

It’s essential to reach out as near to these crucial moments as possible. As mentioned, you want to collect fresh, accurate, and in-depth feedback from your new hire. Moreover, you want to be able to make immediate improvements to your new employee’s onboarding experience based on the feedback they’ve given.

Don’t wait until the onboarding experience is over before you collect feedback from your new hires. Instead, make collecting feedback a routine part of the experience as a whole — and start putting the information you gather to immediate use.

3. Be Clear, Quick, and Concise

While collecting feedback throughout the onboarding process is important, it shouldn’t distract your new employees from the task at hand.

This is why pulse surveys are such an invaluable tool.

By implementing pulse surveys, you can quickly get to the heart of the matter — and allow your employees to respond just as quickly.

As we talked about earlier, your goal is to ask focused questions on relevant experiences and issues. This will ensure the responses you get provide accurate, valuable information that can be used to improve your onboarding processes moving forward.

Even during more intensive feedback sessions, it’s still crucial to be as clear and concise as possible with your questioning. Suppose your surveys cause respondents to become distracted or tired in any way. In that case, they may provide less-than-accurate responses, defeating the purpose of collecting feedback in the first place.

Overall, your goal is to develop surveys and feedback forms that allow your new hires to respond with minimal hesitation. While also providing valuable information to your onboarding team.

4. Dive Deeper When Appropriate or Necessary

With the above in mind, there will be times that you’ll want your new hires to extrapolate on the feedback they provide.

A few example scenarios:

• A new hire encounters a major roadblock in their onboarding experience
• A new employee has a subpar experience with a member of the onboarding team
• A respondent has a bit more to say about a certain part of their experience thus far

While you should certainly listen to what the employee has to say, you need to be sure that the information they provide will allow you to make improvements to their (and other new hires’) onboarding experience.

So, you’ll need to be strategic in your approach here.

• First, set aside a time to meet with the employee to focus on the issue at hand — and this issue alone. This will keep things from going off-track and will ensure that the time is spent wisely on all fronts.
• It’s also essential to involve the right people — those directly involved with the part of the onboarding process in focus. With these team members, you can develop lines of questioning that will elicit insightful and useful responses from your new hires.
• Finally, consider the best channels and formats to use when soliciting this additional info. Here, you’ll be looking for a balance between your respondent’s preferences and the most efficient means of communicating the information you’re looking for.

Ideally, you won’t need to go too in-depth when collecting this feedback — and you hopefully won’t need to do so all that often. Still, when it’s clear that valuable insight can be gleaned from your new hires, it’s crucial to have a clear strategy for collecting it.

5. Set the Stage for Your Employee’s Next Steps

As we discussed earlier, your two main goals for collecting employee feedback throughout the onboarding process are:

• To improve the individual employee’s experiences with your team
• To improve your overall onboarding process for future employees

As you collect this feedback, you must collect it from understanding these goals from the start. And, it’s even more crucial that they actually see how their feedback led to improvements — both for themselves and for future members of your organization.

To be blunt:
This is not about giving “lip service” to those who provide valuable feedback to your team.

Instead, it’s about being intentional in your approach and actually involving those who provide feedback in the process of improving your onboarding processes.
We’ve already talked about the importance of digging deeper with certain employees on an as-needed basis. But, more than just asking for more info, you should also be soliciting practical advice from them — and bringing them into the fold as you make the suggested improvements.

This will lead to tangible improvements for those who have provided feedback throughout their onboarding experience. On top of that, it will also show these new employees that your team is invested in and dedicated to their success within your organization.

In turn, your new employees will become more invested in their own growth — and are likely to stay loyal to your company well into the future.

6. Transform Employee Feedback Into Organizational Knowledge

This goes along with the last section:

The feedback you collect from your new hires isn’t just valuable at that moment. Rather, this knowledge can be shared to make impactful improvements to your employee onboarding processes overall.

That is, as long as you properly document and integrate it into your organization’s collective knowledge.

This is where knowledge management and an internal knowledge base come in.

As you collect feedback from your employees, you’ll want to analyze and assess it alongside everything you already know. By properly contextualizing this new information, you’ll not only build on your organization’s current knowledge — but will also squeeze more value out of the additional info you’ve collected.

Your new hires should also be involved in this process of documenting new organizational knowledge. For one thing, it will ensure that their feedback is communicated in full and is interpreted accurately.

Moreover, it will place them in a more integral position within your team — which, once again, will put them on a clear path to success from the very start of their career with your company.

What's Next?

Vantage Circle’s powerful employee survey tool, Vantage Pulse, allows you to quickly and easily collect feedback from your new hires and current employees — and helps you analyze trends and create meaningful feedback loops.

Schedule a demo to learn more about how we can help improve your employee onboarding experience and get your new employees started on the right foot.

This article is written by Emil Hajric who is the founder and CEO of Helpjuice – a powerful knowledge base solution that can be used to help onboard new hires. Emil is an organizational learning expert & author of Knowledge Management: A Theoretical and Practical Guide for Knowledge Management in Your Organization. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com.

The past year hasn't been easy on anybody, even more so for the employees.

In addition to worrying about the pandemic and the isolation bought on by it, people with jobs had additional concerns about their job insecurity.

Do you know the one thing that is worse than losing your job? It's losing your job during a pandemic.

With many businesses around the globe being forced to lay off most of their workers, such fears of being laid off are understandable.

If you, as a leader or manager, have noticed a significant drop in productivity and efficiency among your employees, it's possibly due to the tension, anxiety, and alienation brought on by the current global tensions.

According to new research from Ohio State University, these challenges have affected people's engagement at work and shown drastic consequences for workers' mental health and wellness.

As a response, companies must find newer, stronger, and more reliable ways to engage their employees while maintaining a positive employee experience. Let’s have a look at how.

The Impact Of Rewards And Recognition In Today’s Corporate World

Human beings are social creatures.

A majority of the actions we perform are tied to our need to be acknowledged and appreciated for the efforts we put in. And your employees are no different.

When people feel engaged, it shows.

Be it in the business results, enhanced company culture, heightened productivity levels, or through employee advocacy.

Even if the pandemic never happened, your workers would gradually become disengaged if the company does not show that they are valued.

Although the term “employee engagement” might seem inconclusive, it’s really about doing things that will make an employee feel happy, satisfied, and safe at their place of work.

While making an employee feel so will require time, patience, and resources, a large part of engaging employees lies in following the right rewards and recognition practice.

Rewards and recognition have been at the top of the priority list for multiple businesses. Out there, there is a talent battle happening on a large scale.

Leaders must create a corporate culture where employee appreciation is the norm not only to attract the top talents but also to retain them in the long run.

Let's take a look at the eight most distinct advantages of rewards and recognition in the workplace:

• Enhances company culture
• Provides a competitive advantage
• Improves employee-employer relationships
• Boosts team spirit
• Empowers employees
• Promotes better employee retention
• Establishes strong brand value
• Enhances holistic employee well-being

The Growing Importance Of Mental Health At The Workplace

It's not uncommon that leaders often forget a critical element of overall well-being in their haste to achieve peak physical health in employees—mental wellness.

Organizational leaders are so focused on promoting good physical health that they neglect to acknowledge the effects of ignoring mental health in the workplace.

Did you know that almost 1 out of 6 people experiences some form of mental health problems in the workplace?

Do you know where we went wrong?

Commonly, a strong distinction is made between the "mind" and the "body." And it is at this point that we begin to make bad decisions.

Having a “healthy mind” and “healthy body” shouldn't be considered two separate entities.

It’s not about comparing apples to oranges here. You don't have to choose one above the other. For a person to perform at their optimal level, mental health is as necessary as physical health.

With 2021 being the year where health is prioritized, companies need to ensure that mental well-being is not disregarded.

The impact of the pandemic on our mental well-being had been brutal. In January 2021, 41% of adults reported symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder.

According to CDC, stress and anxiety, coupled with isolation, can manifest drastic symptoms in employees like:

• Feelings of fear, anger, sadness, worry, numbness, or frustration
• Changes in appetite, energy, desires, and interests
• Trouble concentrating and making decisions
• Difficulty sleeping or having nightmares
• Physical side effects, such as headaches, body pains, stomach problems, and skin rashes
• Worsening of chronic health problems
• Worsening of mental health conditions
• Increased use of alcohol and other substances

Do you see how bad the situation is?

As we navigate the challenges of reopening and running our businesses in the pandemic-riddled world, it's important to remember to be compassionate for the employees who struggle with mental health problems and helping them in their recovery.

So, what can managers and leaders do to support people as they face new stressors, safety concerns, and economic upheaval? Here’s our advice.

Leveraging Rewards and Recognition Initiatives To Support Mental Wellness

Even in the most uncertain of times, the role of a leader remains the same: to support your team members. That includes supporting their mental health.

A large part of the mental health issues faced by workers arises because of a single fact- emotional or social isolation.

People need to feel connected to their team members, colleagues, managers, and leaders to feel like they are part of an organization that doesn’t invalidate their well-being.

And to achieve the above, it’s of utmost importance that a culture of rewards and recognition is promoted and established.

When people feel appreciated and acknowledged for their efforts, they see themselves as being valued and seen. Since we tend to place our self-worth in the things we achieve, your employees must know that their contributions matter to the company and its success.

However, it’s not only about the company-employee relationship we are talking about.

It is about peer to peer, employee to manager, leader to a manager, and many of such ever-changing roles that we see in a normal enough work life.

A rewards and recognition program that aims to address and understand the importance of mental well-being will keep some key measures in mind, such as:

1. Facilitating Peer-To-Peer-Recognition

Facilitate team members to take part in employee accomplishments. If you're congratulating someone on a significant achievement or commemorating a work milestone, invite colleagues to gather, comment, and engage in the presentation. Employees of the best companies take the opportunity to schedule a peer's appreciation moment.

Related: Building a Culture of Peer Recognition at your Workplace

2. Allow Employees To Select The Recognition They Want

It is important to allow employees’ the choice that they want. While some people are open and extroverted, they seek recognition that is public in nature. In some other cases, employees may want rewards that allow them the opportunity to choose their own rewards, such as gift cards.

However, some employees like one-to-one recognition without seeking loud gatherings and attention.

HR leaders must understand that recognition is personal. Thus, it is something that needs to be personalized.

3. Characteristics Of Recognition

Understanding the characteristics that should be the program's building blocks is another critical move before introducing any rewards and recognition platform:

Timely

Build a culture of appreciation in which every small and large performance level set by others is immediately acknowledged and appreciated.

Frequent

Recognition should be a continuous process, with no good work gone unnoticed. It's not only about appreciating the bigger milestones; it's also about appreciating the smaller ones.

Specific

When specific achievements are acknowledged, it has a greater significance. Being specific ensures that workers understand that a particular level or type of performance will be rewarded.

4. Hold Managers Accountable

Managers are the bridge between employees and the company. Very often, managers are the direct point of contact and thus stand to make the maximum impact on your workers.

Training managers to appreciate in a meaningful way is essential to your rewards and recognition efforts. Make it an essential part of your managers' job role description to understand and follow such recognition-based practices.

5. Simplify Recognition

The user interface of the program should be simple, smooth, and easy to use. Since the software would be used by everybody in the company, there should be no complicated steps.

The program should also be fun and easy to use. Gamification in the R&R module, where employees can exchange rewards or appreciation, have an internal leaderboard, points allocation, etc., can boost participation.

6. Well-Being Contests

Regular physical activity can enhance our self-esteem and reduce stress and anxiety. Thus, ensure that you promote a culture of well-being by gamifying wellness contests and tie meaningful incentives at the end of them.

You can also hold mental wellness contests such as “Attending virtual meditation class for 1 week” that will inspire people to keep in touch with their emotional sides.

Related: Five Office Meditation Techniques For Employee Health

The Positive Effects of Having A Mentally Fit Workforce

A workplace that supports mental wellness will try to make people aware of it, dispel the stigmas, and place the right measures to address such issues.

They are upbeat and positive, and they bring out the best of everybody in the workplace. Companies that care for their employees' mental health and well-being attract and retain top talent because they are fantastic places to work.

As a result, turnover decreases, productivity increases, performance heightens, and the employee experience is truly elevated.

The facts are clear: a mentally stable workplace not only benefits workers but is also healthier for your company’s bottom line.

What’s Next?

The first step in creating a culture that values mental health is to provide your employees with the appropriate rewards and recognition platform.

Vantage Rewards is a powerful reward and recognition platform that is easy-to-use, SaaS-based and makes the employee recognition process simple, fun, and accessible.

Vantage Rewards was designed to make the process of recognition more impactful, easier to do, manage, and run. With features like automated rewarding, budgeting and allocation, on-spot recognition, management dashboard, and detailed analytics- Vantage Rewards enables organizations to recognize their workforces in a meaningful yet seamless way.

This article is written by Barasha Medhi who is a part of the marketing team at Vantage Circle. Barasha can be found either searching for interesting HR buzzwords to write about or looking at pictures of cozy Bel Air mansions. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com.

We don’t really know what will happen in the future, but we can plan for it to some extent. It's called future-proofing, and it's a wise plan for organizations. Future-proofing your organization will give you an advantage in a competitive market, keep you sustainable, and set you up for long-term success. Especially in unpredictable times.

Prior to the pandemic, companies avoided adjusting to the demands of the new generations of workers. The workers who fought for more flexibility in their work schedules were dismissed and rebuked. When the in-office workers were surrounded by cultural initiatives, the remote workers were neglected.

Now when companies are restarting, employers are faced with the task of deciding how to better position their company for success. They are no longer influenced by what has worked in the past, but by what will work in the future. Employee health and wellbeing, as well as remote work, are now at top of the mind of many companies.

Today, employers must listen to and understand the needs of their workers in order to create a long-term company culture. And now we involve all our remote workers in our in-office activities quite easily.

In short, if companies want to stay competitive in these tough times, they'll need to reconsider their way of operation, develop new rules and procedures, and become more forward-thinking.

And generally, it is up to the leaders to influence and reshape workplace culture in order to create one that is feasible and long-term.

In this podcast, Alec Bashinsky talks about how to create a future-proof workplace, the importance of workplace leadership and how to leverage digital communication in the workplace in the post-covid 19 era. Along with Alec's suggestions to the aspiring HR professionals, this future of work podcast tells you the 2021 HR predictions by the Josh Bersin Academy.

Alec Bashinsky is a Strategic business thinker/ innovator and Future of work specialist who disrupts traditional Talent/ HR models and aligns people focus to deliver business outcomes. Alec is currently the APAC Partner for the Josh Bersin Academy which is the first global Professional Development Academy for HR. He also is the Managing Partner of Blackhall & Pearl Talent Advisory which focuses on HR/ Culture Transformation, Future of Work, the Talent Experience, and Diversity & Inclusion through the facilitation of advanced AI tools and insights.

His expertise is built on demonstrable HR & Business Transformation experience and he has strong change management and Leadership execution skills to underpin his successful achievements.

Prior to this, Alec was the Asia Pacific CHRO for Deloitte where he leads a team of Talent professionals responsible for 55,000 people in the AP Region, with offices in more than 120 cities in over 20 countries. Alec was also with Deloitte Australia for 12 years as CHRO – National Partner, People & Performance reporting directly to the CEO. He has also been a member of the Deloitte Global Talent Executive for 8 years.

In his Australian role, Alec was responsible for over 6500 employees and a team of over 90 people. His mandate is to drive a Performance Culture and build Leadership capability through establishing Leadership development, Talent Identification, Performance Culture, Diversity & Inclusion, Employee Engagement, and Shaping the Workforce of the Future as part of innovating the People strategy for Deloitte.

He has significantly realigned the Deloitte HR offering including differentiated and segment Talent, globally optimize Talent practices, and Predictive and Analytical Data Integration with the Business functions.

Alec’s previous roles were as CHRO with Deloitte as well as Senior Director Human Resources - Japan ; the Asia Pacific for Peoplesoft inc. Prior to this, Alec was the Group Manager - Human Resources for Cisco Systems for Australia /New Zealand for 3.5yrs, Asia Pacific HR Manager for 3Com, and amongst his other achievements saw him tackle the unique challenge of being the HR Director for the market entry of Toys R Us into Australia.

Connect with Alec Bashinsky on Linkedin

Show Notes:

(01:23) Please brief us about your experience in HR.

(02:25) As businesses begin to reopen, employers are challenged with how to set their organizations up for success. Do you feel the organizations should reevaluate their approach to business or augment their existing protocols to still remain competitive and mostly to create a future-proof workplace?

(03:44) HR teams have had to improve their organizational agility since the pandemic started in order to keep up with the rapid, unforeseen changes to their workplaces, including a major move to remote work. As the pandemic threatens to place many companies' futures in jeopardy, prioritizing and caring for workers has become crucial in making a future-proof workplace. But, in a way, HR has always been responsible for this, but now it has taken on a new sense. What is your opinion on the evolving role of HR given the anxiety caused by the outbreak of the covid 19 virus?

(06:33) Is it crucial to have leadership training for the tenured managers or new ones to cope up in a post covid 19 workplaces?

(07:57) As staff and office leaders struggled to adapt, the new normal, you know of work from home or say, adapting to the required technologies dictated by remote work, and most importantly digital communication— all of these have become a requirement rather than an option.

Do you think the overabundance of digital communication resulting in social & physical isolation, is sparking more need for actual human connection? I mean, to create a future-proof workplace, don’t you think, we should seriously focus on the human of HR from now onwards?

Read our blog on: Future of Work in 2021 and Beyond

(11:00) During the pandemic we were all threatened by the increasing risks of the virus, and almost all of us have lost a relative or friend, which has a persisting impact on mind, causing a post-traumatic fear. Isn’t it the right time to realize the importance of mental health & take preventive measures for the employees?

(12:57) The future of the workplace is no longer molded around what has worked but instead what will work moving forward. Would you like to share some insights on this with our HRs and aspiring managers?

(18:17) Any HR book that you’ll suggest our listeners read?

(19:06) How can our listeners reach out to you?

What is the Human Resource Information System (HRIS)?

An HRIS or Human Resource Information System provides a shared repository of employee data and statistics that help HRM (human resource management) carry out HR formalities.

HRIS is an HR system or tool that encompasses and manages employee data such as their names, address, government IDs, phone number, work permits, and dependents lists. It is a cloud-based software solution that caters to essential organizational functions like recruitment, application tracking, time tracking, performance management, and benefits administration. It can also help in enhancing your company’s employee experience as a whole.

We can consider HRIS as an employee self-service tool to track time and attendance and store necessary data. It is smart, efficient, and modern data storing software to make work easier for HR professionals. This helps an organization and its HR managers smoothen their operations, positively impacting their company culture and employee engagement efforts.

With a functional human resource information system, we can see an interaction of data, the processes performed, and the data stored in the system that becomes easily accessible and usable.

Now that you have a basic idea about HRIS, let’s know its benefits!

Benefits of HRIS

An equipped and functional human resource information system enables the HR department to spend minimal time on clerical jobs, accurately store employee data, and allows employees to contribute equally to an organization’s management information.

Implementing a standard and centralized repository for employee information eradicates the need to store paper files, which can quickly get damaged or misplaced. Let’s not forget the tedious task of finding and searching employee information through multiple drawers and pages.

Depending on the specific type of HRIS software that you use, it can procure management reports and ad hoc and help HR analytics meter out important metrics like headcount and employee turnover. On the other hand, some modern HRIS software also helps in visualization, such as automatic rendering organization charts or nine-box grids.

Another significant benefit of HRIS is that you can expect recurring tasks with automation. Hence, it justifies the need for technology in the workplace. A good HRIS software helps to reach out to broader candidate pools when it comes to new vacancies. It can speed up the onboarding process as it reduces paper costs, and all employees can access it simultaneously.

HRIS has many other benefits, and below, we have mentioned some of them for you:

• Employee self-service options that enhance employee engagement
• Open enrollment benefit
• Employee Empowerment
• Improved training
• Reduces payroll and employee information errors
• Seamless analytics and organizational data processing

HRIS Security and Privacy

An equipped HRIS helps in securing employee data by keeping all information private and confidential. While doing paper forms, or spreadsheets, personal data can easily leak out and can become accessible to all. Thus, HRIS can secure any sort of information and make it accessible to assigned and designated people only.

When you are handling sensitive information, data security is the epitome of privacy protection and safety. Countries like Germany, Australia, France, etc., have strict work councils that work towards employee data protection, and if you work in such a company, you surely don’t want to mess up. Technology can protect your data, not lock and keys.

Types of HRIS Software

Based on the customer’s interest and business requirements, whether small-sized or global corporate giants, there are a variety of HRIS systems available. Generally, the distinction is found in the range and depth of features for each business.

Most of the HRIS systems cover a vast portion that we mentioned above. Still, many systems that focus on small and medium-sized businesses tend to show less functionality in each feature than those aimed at global organizations.

Therefore, one can easily see the similarities between the HRIS market and the rest of the corporate industry. Basically, the analogy is that all corporates have a set of policies and employees, but the primary distinction lies in the qualities and facilities that makes a great company culture.

Functions of HRIS

HRIS is an HR oriented tool, and it usually helps in carrying the following tasks:

• Master data management
• Organizational management like managing designations and departments
• Employee self-services
• Manager self-services
• Benefits management
• Workflow management
• Performance management/appraisals
• Recruitment and applicant tracking
• Compensation management
• Training management
• Reporting and basic analytics

A sound human resource information system performs all the necessary human resource functions to serve maximum HR needs. Without this software, people would have continued using unsecured paper documents or spreadsheets to store data. Also, while you enter data manually, it can cause multiple errors, and when you need to refer to them after a while, it will be a task to look for them. It is time-consuming and confusing, but with a human resource information system, you can access any information without a hassle.

Usually, payroll is a part of the human resource information system, but necessarily with all companies. However, many businesses do not have payroll as part of their HRIS offering, like Oracle, Workday, which considers payroll as a separate system but integrated with HRIS.

Importance of HRIS

Human resource information systems play a crucial role in enabling compliance in any organization. For instance- if you’re working in the U.S and storing regulatory data of Equal Employment Opportunity information or in Australia, storing data for the Fair Work Ombudsman, you must maintain privacy and protection of data. You must ensure the ultimate security of the information and HRIS help you do so.

It is also important because it efficiently stores payroll data and gives fewer chances of salary discrepancies. It is time-saving, efficient, and reduces human efforts. In reality, an organization that functions without an HRIS can experience costly errors or see a downfall in its employee engagement.

Let’s justify this with an example. Suppose a company manually enters and tallies HR data, and due to a silly error, they overpay or underpay their employees or might have given them extra vacation time. In such an instance, the company's employee engagement gets negatively affected, but with a functional human resource information system, one can avoid such unwanted situations.

What is the Difference Between HRIS and HRMS?

Human Resource Information System (HRIS) and Human Resource Management System (HRMS) are nothing but two sides of the same coin. People often use these terms interchangeably and refer to both as the same, just with different terminology. Nevertheless, even if these two are similar yet, there are fundamental differences between them.

HRMS focuses on all the HR functions, i.e., from an employee’s recruitment-to-retirement. This incorporates employee tracking and allows workers to perform tasks and analyze critical data. It also allows employees to follow new trends, create and innovate and manage reports efficiently. HRMS holds detailed information about payrolls, attendance, appraisal, rosters, etc. As a whole, it helps the HR department to manage workflows smoothly and seamlessly.

When we talk about HRIS, the scope is limited compared to HRMS in terms of employee information. It holds static data like employee permanent and temporary address, educational qualification, phone number, bank details, tax files, etc. It is beneficial for regular tracking and administration management. HRIS is crucial in recruitment management because with automation scrutinizing resumes, candidates become way faster and simpler.

Conclusion

We just answered to what is HRIS or Human Resource Information System along with its benefits and functions.

If you also got your answers related to HRIS from this article, do let us know!

This article is written by Gautam Gayan. He works as a Content Marketer at Vantage Circle. Apart from being a passionate content creator for HR services and employee engagement, Gautam is a theatre enthusiast, an avid reader and an aspiring poet. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Giving Easter gifts to your employees is a workplace tradition that every company needs to participate in.

Post-2020, every employee needs that extra boost of feeling appreciated for the efforts they put in. Recognition received from their leaders can have a huge impact on how people navigate a period of work-induced stress, anxiety, and loneliness.

With employee engagement being the prime focus of global organizations, it is vital to grab every opportunity that you can to make your people feel valued.

While Christmas and work anniversaries are well utilized by companies to celebrate on a grand scale, the Easter holiday is often underrated for how amazing it can be.

But First, What Is Easter?

To those unaware, Easter is one of the principal holidays that marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a festival that symbolizes joy, hope, and new beginnings.

While being a Christian holiday, Easter has established itself as an occasion celebrated by people from various wakes of life. Thus, Easter truly embodies what every company is trying to achieve- workplace inclusion in its simplest form.

For companies looking for new ways to engage their people, sometimes the answer is not expensive and complex.

Sometimes it can be as simple as making your people feel happy and recognized through the simple act of gift-giving during a special occasion.

This article will focus on the best corporate Easter gift ideas that every employee would love to receive.

List Of 19 Amazing Easter Gift Ideas For Employees

1. Easter Baskets

Easter is synonymous with Easter baskets. Typically meant for children, this versatile gift can be customized to suit the tastes of your employees too. Easter baskets traditionally consist of goodies like Easter eggs, toys, or fruits.

You can adult-ify the whole gift for a corporate setting by including organic nuts, quality chocolates, premium tea or coffee, luxury cheeses, and so much more.

2. Personalized Items

Although practical items such as bottles, mugs, ties, cuffs, scarves are very thoughtful gifts, you can make them more meaningful by personalizing. Receiving such gifts will definitely make your employees feel happy.

3. Gift Cards

Given a choice, everyone would love to receive a gift card. And why wouldn't they?

Gift cards allow an employee the flexibility to choose the gift that they really want. It turns the otherwise simple act of receiving a gift into a fun shopping experience.

For employers, gift cards are incredibly easy to manage, store, and distribute, making them the ideal corporate reward for any occasion.

4. Easter Bunny Decor

Easter without bunnies is incomplete by itself. Even adults will appreciate the adorable bunny designs that are reminiscent of Easter. Look for lamps, flower vases,

5. Charitable Donations

Easter is a festival that encourages people to share their goodwill with others. Making charitable contributions on behalf of each individual employee is a gesture that most workers will appreciate!

6. Sweet Treats

Gourmet sweet treats are something that will appeal to the majority of your workforce. If not for them, their families will definitely approve of these gift boxes of delight.

Chocolate bunny eggs, chocolate-covered strawberries or pretzels, chocolate bunnies- the options are simply endless.

The great news? If you are not that fond of chocolate, there is a range of other selections such as peanut butter cups, Tim Tams, giant cookies, cheesecake bars, and many more.

7. Greeting Card

Sometimes, a sweet card with a message from one's boss can be the most authentic and meaningful gratitude an employee can receive.

However, please note that the more personalized such cards are, the more impact such cards will have on your employees' morale. Ensure that you thank them for standing with you during your tough times and point out the result of their contributions.

8. Snack Easter Hamper

Easter snacks are integral to its celebration. We recommend gifting your employees a curated food hamper consisting of chocolate eggs (a must for Easter), sweet and salty mix, jelly beans, or bunny decorated cookies.

You can also go for a more healthy Easter gifting option by opting for organic, low-calorie food items.

9. Art Supplies

As leaders, you need to encourage your people to go out of their comfort zone, destress, and tap into their creativity. Art is the clear winner in such regards.

Art supplies may seem unusual, but they are an extraordinary gift to give to your people. That is why adult coloring books are in such high demand right now.

10. Egg Cup

Gifting an egg cup might seem odd for any other holiday, but definitely not so for Easter. Often Easter gifts include eggs in some form or the other since eggs represent a new start.

Keeping that in mind, egg cups symbolize the Easter festival and are an excellent gift to your workforce.

11. Electronic Items

Electronic items such as smartwatches, portable BlueTooth speakers, and Kindles are a big favorite among today’s workforce and are sure to boost their spirit.

12. Wellness Items

Wellness products can be a valuable gift, particularly in today's world where everyone's health is a top priority. Meditation app subscriptions, interactive workout courses, wellness app subscriptions, and health trackers are among our favorites.

13. Books

The gift of books is a gift that goes on giving. You can ask employees to share their booklist and also simultaneously pay for their library cards. If you want to go all out, Kindles and audiobooks are quite the rage nowadays.

14. Good Wine

A fine bottle of wine is the ideal accompaniment to every happy occasion. It is also a perk that the staff would undoubtedly enjoy.

15. Plants

Who doesn't like succulents? They are extremely charming and will make an excellent addition to any indoor garden or room decoration. Juniper, pines, spruces, cedars, magnolia, elms, and oaks will all make for perfect bonsai trees.

16. Craft Items

Why opt for mass-produced Easter gifts when you invest in small business items. Handmade craft items are an ideal Easter gift that is meaningful while being ecologically sustainable.

17. Beach Items

With summer rapidly approaching, beach-related goods are another item that we believe would make ideal Easter gifts. Even if you live nowhere close to a beach, you will still need a decent pair of shades, a wide-brimmed hat, sunscreen, and shorts.

18. Gift Experiences

Give your staff an experience gift card as a surprise. For instance, luxurious hotel stays, special dinner vouchers, catered lunch at the office, special spa treatments, and so on.

19. Self-Care Package

Among your employees, promote the importance of taking "me" time to care for themselves. Curate a self-care package that consists of lotions, soaps, bath bombs, and such. To instill the spirit of Easter, include items that showcase bunnies, carrots, or eggs.

Finally

Which of the Easter gifts mentioned above do you think your employees would enjoy the most? Please let us know in the comments section below.

This article is written by Barasha Medhi is a content marketer at Vantage Circle. She is always on the lookout for interesting tidbits about the current HR and employee engagement space. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

A workforce consists of various people with different ideologies, beliefs, and backgrounds. Among those, there will be people who have personalities that do not blend in well with the work environment. They tend to disrupt the work culture with their behavior and make the workplace toxic. Managing such difficult employees can be a draining job that can eventually decrease the productivity of other employees.

With the changing dynamics of the workplace, it has become crucial that employees maintain their unity. Without mutual understanding and trust, it is difficult to thrive in the ever-changing corporate environment. This is why it is essential to filter out the problematic employees to work with and sort out the issues troubling them.

This article aims to table the different ways you can handle difficult employees and facilitate a good working environment.

8 Ways to Manage Difficult Employees in the Workplace

1. Reward and Recognize

The lack of timely recognition can give rise to employees that are hard to deal with. It is because of the fact that they are not acknowledged for their hard work and efforts. They believe they are undervalued, which causes them to lose motivation to accomplish the tasks.

What can a manager or a leader do about it?

The best way to manage difficult employees is by facilitating a robust rewards and recognition system that can help a manager appreciate their employees. Not only will it boost their morale but it will elevate their job satisfaction levels. And to help managers out with providing such a platform, Vantage Rewards can play a pivotal role in increasing the recognition efforts and providing appropriate rewards that the employees will love in the long term.

Recommended: Vantage Rewards- Your One Stop Rewarding and Recognition Solution

2. Be Professional

The interaction you will have as a leader with your problematic employees will determine your conversation’s success. It is vital to maintain a professional relationship while focusing on dealing with such employees. The main thing to keep in mind is to create an environment where your employees will feel comfortable sharing their experiences.

Never try to make negative comments or assumptions about their condition before understanding their problem. Furthermore, do not target personally as it will make it even more challenging to resolve the issue. Instead, maintain professionalism and devise solutions that best suit the situation to manage any shortcomings swiftly.

3. Heed to Feedback

A feedback culture is crucially essential to heed the problems that an employee faces in an organization. Your day-to-day conversations with troubled employees will help you understand their overall condition. Acknowledging their feedback will give you a clearer picture of the difficulties they face, which has led to a bad behavioral change.

However, as a manager, if you are not facilitating a feedback system to pinpoint their struggles, it can make life difficult for both you and your employees. A leader should be the one that can help them overcome their obstacles, provide employee assistance whenever possible, and ensure an employee-centric work environment for greater sustainability and success in the long term.

Read more: 360 Degree Feedback and Everything That You Need to Know

4. Focus on Active Listening Practices

As mentioned above, feedback is crucial to understand the changes that an employee has to deal with. On the other hand, actively listening to what they have to say is as important as focusing on their feedback. An employee cannot share all their shortcomings in feedback. Sometimes, the team leader has to sit with them and have a one-on-one conversation to understand their perspective.

One should have a friendly approach and make the employees comfortable so that they do not have any trouble opening up about their difficulties. Listen to their questions and come up with appropriate answers so that they have a sense of belonging in the organization. This will nurture positive thoughts in them and help them connect with the rest of the team members.

Read more: Active Listening- It's Skills and Importance

5. Delegate and Give Clear Direction

The lack of clear job descriptions and expectations is one of the prime reasons employees lose interest in their jobs and resort to disruptive behavior. When employees feel that they are not given precise directives about their tasks, they feel less valued and lose the will to work. This breaks the team cohesion and unity resulting in a loss in efficiency and productivity.

On the other hand, when leaders provide clear direction about the employees’ job, it becomes easier for them to manage their employees. This will enable them to become productive and proficient in their job. Delegate their tasks as much as possible and guide them to attain more tremendous success for the organization.

6. Get to the Root of the Problem

Difficult employees are hard to collaborate with and minimize the team’s efficiency with their behavior and work ethics. But what might be the root cause of the problem that has led to such a situation? As a leader, it becomes essential that you do not ignore it and expect the situation to resolve itself. Understanding the difficulties faced by the employees both personally and professionally will give you a clear picture of what needs to be done.

The best thing you can do is assign an employee experience manager that can oversee the overall employee experience. Ask these managers to report and document any instances that can harm team cohesion and unity. Follow up with them and measure the outcome so that you can dig deeper and fix the problem at the earliest possible. Doing so will help you devise the appropriate solution and make a positive impact that will significantly improve difficult employees’ attitudes.

Learn more: The Roles of an Employee Experience Manager

7. Communicate Well

Managing difficult employees is not an easy task. And it becomes even more difficult if there is no communication between the manager and the employees with a bad attitude in a team. Always keep in mind that communication is a two-way process. It will require mutual respect and understanding so that both parties open up to each other and table the issues they face.

The approach is critical because while dealing with difficult employees, you would not want to fend them off without even getting to know the drawback. Keep it simple, professional, and to the point so that you do not go off-topic. Acknowledge what they have to say and emphasize their queries. Be emphatic, supportive, and honest with the employees that you find challenging to manage—act on addressing the issues quickly, which will help both the workplace culture and its overall efficiency.

8. Monitor Problematic Behavior

To manage difficult people or employees, managers must keep an eye on their specific behavior. Monitor how an employees’ bad attitude is impacting a team and the overall performance. If their actions are detrimental to team unity, it might be the right thing to talk directly with them. Speak about how their activities have harmed the morale of other employees. Also, make it clear about the consequences if they do not improve their attitude and actions.

The main aim should be to keep the bare minimum damage while managing difficult employees and improving their overall attitude. If all your efforts to make the situation better go in vain, then it might be high time to let go of the toxic employees regardless of their skill level. This will help you in maintaining a good company culture and improve the overall performance of the workforce.

Summing it Up!

Managing difficult employees is an ongoing process that will need proper planning and execution. Without a robust plan, it will become challenging to handle such employees that can negatively impact the company culture and make it hard for the workforce to perform at their best. If you have any more suggestions, do let us know in the comments below.

Mrinmoy Rabha is a content writer and digital marketer at Vantage Circle. He is an avid follower of football and passionate about singing. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Our experiences mold our perception in anything we do. Be it professionally or personally. We learn from those experiences and improve ourselves. The same goes for the employees as well. Their day-to-day life in a workplace will reflect on what they think about their organization. From the time they join till the day they leave the company, employee experience becomes an ongoing process. And it is crucial that every organization shifts its focus in providing the best possible experience for their employees.

While employee engagement is still the main focus, one should not undermine the benefits of a stellar experience. They both compliment each other. Without a robust engagement system, the everyday experience of an employee might become monotonous. Thus, leading to a drop in productivity and increased burnout levels. On the other hand, when employees are subjected to good experience within the organization it boosts their morale and motivates them to become the best in their job.

Employee experience is so vital nowadays that organizations have designated specific roles to oversee it. This is where an employee experience manager comes into the picture. But are the leaders clear about the roles that today’s managers have to undertake to ensure that people remain engaged? This article aims to discuss the different roles and responsibilities that these managers need to perform to improve the employees’ overall performances.

What does an employee experience manager do?

An employee experience manager is the one who manages, tracks, and runs the process required to provide a great employee experience. Their main job includes conducting employee surveys, peer-to-peer conversations, KPI’s, social rewards, and more to keep check of the overall experience. It does not end there. These managers have to understand the employees’ perspectives, stay connected with them, and make them feel like a part of the company’s success.

The job of employee experience managers revolves around all the aspects of the employee life cycle. Building strategies to improve the work culture and understanding the needs of your employees is essential here.

The Roles of An Employee Experience Manager

1. Focusing on the Employee Life-Cycle

An employee life-cycle is a process that has different stages which an employee has to go through during their time in an organization. The stages include-

• Attracting a talent

• Recruitment

• Orientation

• Development

• Retention

As an employee experience manager, you must have a proper understanding of the process. It becomes crucial to provide the best environment for the employees when they go through these stages. During the initial days, the experience they have will prove to be pivotal as it will shape out their perception of the company.

Offer as many details about the company and set clear expectations for their roles and responsibilities. Everyone remembers their “first” moments within the company, and improving those “first” moments will reflect an employee’s overall experience. This way, you can restructure the strategies and elevate the employee experience for future employees.

Read more: Employee Life-Cycle and the Stages Involved

2. Fostering a Good Employer-Employee Relationship

Imagine a situation where the employees and the managers lack behind in having a good relationship. How will it hold out? It will result in a toxic relationship and a work environment where neither the manager nor the employee can thrive. As a leader, you will need a moderator to diffuse such situations. And to do that, employee experience managers will help both parties sort out the issues building between them.

These managers will focus on resolving the conflict and get to the root of the problem. They will have one-on-one conversations with the parties involved and try to bring them into a common understanding. This is important because when the managers resolve any misunderstandings, it helps them to respect each other and foster healthy relationships within the organization.

3. Empowering Employees

Empowering your employees is giving them the freedom to work and making them accountable for their job. Their decisions and actions will directly reflect the bottom line of the company. It is a given fact that for greater organizational success, your employees need to be successful.

One of the most important things that an employee experience manager needs to focus on is empowering employees. Employees must have the opportunity to develop themselves, learn, and acquire new skills to succeed personally and professionally. To further facilitate empowerment in the workplace, as a manager, you need to build trust and mutual respect, have a robust communication system, be clear about the organizational goals, and make the resources available. Create a culture where employees are appreciated to have that sense of belonging in the workplace.

4. Heeding on a Feedback System

4 out of 10 employees are actively disengaged when they do not receive any feedback from their managers. And it does not only stop there; 65% of employees want a robust feedback system that can help them improve in the long term. These numbers are crucial and an indicator that an effective feedback culture is pivotal in employee engagement. When there is a lack of feedback in a workplace, employees tend to lose their motivation. Thus, decreasing the job satisfaction levels and hindering the overall employee experience.

As an employee experience manager, it becomes crucial that you facilitate a feedback culture so that employees can understand their strengths and weaknesses. A robust feedback system will help the employees and the managers get a clear picture of the changing dynamics. Furthermore, it will provide an excellent opportunity to improve the overall skills and adapt to the ever-growing corporate world. As a manager, you need to guide them and support them throughout their journey while focusing on their growth, development, and overall experience in the organization.

5. Streamlining Job Descriptions

Consider a workplace where the employees’ goals and expectations are not aligned with the organization’s long-term vision. It will create a lot of confusion and lead to a work environment where everything might seem chaotic. With unclear job descriptions, there are higher chances that the employees might feel out of place in the organization, which can compel them to quit the company. This can lead to an unpleasant experience for the employees and the employers as well.

This is where employee experience managers’ expertise comes into play. They have a crucial role in bridging the gap between the senior management and employees and further enhancing communication. It does not only end there. They have the responsibility to place an employee in the correct position according to their skills. They need to strategize plans that will enhance the employees’ overall performance and experience while continuously improving the organization’s bottom line.

These managers basically have to facilitate a smooth-running process catering to the daily needs of the workplace. It is necessary so that everyone has a clear understanding of the organizational goals and visions in the long term for better efficiency.

End-Note!

Acknowledging the role of an employee experience manager is vital so that they can fulfill their job without any hassle. They must be clear about their duties and create an environment that will contribute to employees’ efficiency. When employees feel satisfied with their work, they can accomplish the organizational goals and improve the company’s bottom line. Just keep in mind that the process of providing a good experience is a long-term process. Adapt with modernization and be flexible so that you never run out of ideas to elevate the employee experience.

Mrinmoy Rabha is a content writer and digital marketer at Vantage Circle. He is an avid follower of football and passionate about singing. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

2020 has been a year of change. A change that nobody envisioned. The second quarter of 2020 had the business leaders strategize and implement new policies that can help the company sustain amidst the pandemic. Remote became a new normal with HR professionals making new work from home policies to provide a better work experience. It has further defined the leadership trends for 2021.

Corporate observers and researchers have been publishing materials on the drastic changes that businesses worldwide would experience post the pandemic. And the measures that leaders must take to fight the ongoing challenges and provide a work environment that concerns overall employee well-being.

Here are the Latest Leadership Trends for 2021

1. Building The Right Culture For Remote Teams

They say culture is the personality of a company. And it is a fact. The nature of the people in a company has a considerable influence on its culture. You can define your culture but may not sustain it if you do not make the right hiring choices. When you are in a physical work environment, you can build a culture that suits your brand and business. But imagine your workforce going remote or hiring remote employees who are alien to the culture you practice? That is when you need to build your culture again. It could bring a significant change in your existing work culture or impact your employees' internal communication.

Leaders must put some thought into building a culture that aligns all the team members irrespective of their geographic location. Remote workers could disrupt the work environment. Even with remote teams, employees could experience unwanted behavior from their peers or face virtual microaggression virtually. We are aware of how common workplace bullying is.

Therefore, it won't be easy and the most crucial aspect for leaders to translate the in-person communication virtually via technologies to build a positive work culture.

2. Developing A Change Mindset

Learning agility is one of the most essential attributes of any successful leader. Agility helps leaders make quick decisions in times of crisis or change. Many companies fail to sustain their business since the leaders fail to make the right decisions in time. Developing a change mindset is therefore so crucial and tops the leadership trend for 2021. A leader must imbibe a sense of awareness to the company’s members to prepare for any unwanted events.

It is impossible for business leaders who struggle to break from the past to follow new practices to succeed. Leaders must review their strategies that are obsolete and set new models that are relevant to present times. The shift must be viewed with positive effects to identify profitability, productivity, and development prospects.

3. Invest In Employee Wellbeing

The other leadership trend that everyone will invest their time and effort into is employee well-being. Covid 19 has impacted people worldwide, and it has also made people aware of the company's responsibilities towards its workforce. Also, people's mental health has taken a toll due to the pandemic and its uncertainties. It imprinted a significant impact on employee well-being and productivity. Companies now are more concerned about their workplace’s well-being and ready to provide them with the necessities and support for their wellness. A few of the practices that companies are implementing for employee well-being are-

• Work-life integration.
• Flexible work hours.
• Wellness programs.
• Employee benefits for a remote workforce.
• Health benefits.

4. Work From Anywhere

Companies and their HR leaders are more open towards working from anywhere concept. 2021 will witness this massive cultural shift, and more and more companies are going to adapt to this new normal. A few of the apparent benefits of working from anywhere are-

• Lower business expenses.
• A vast pool of applicants and skills
• Better disaster management.
• Improved employee satisfaction and retention.
• Reduced carbon footprint.

Everyone needs to adapt to any upcoming uncertainties by moving to the work-from-home workspace smoothly. The pandemic has taught us that the critical business trip could be your next zoom call. Thus, leveraging the benefits of remote work does not seem like a bad idea at all.

5. Empathetic Leadership

Take your humanity to work. Leaders must give up stereotypes of leadership and think beyond the obvious. A genuine and truly open human being is what workers and others want. It means connecting yourself with even other people and not just your successes. Leaders must work for and behave with their teams with respect. Showing empathy towards the workforce during any crisis builds a loyal team. When you need to take charge of your team, support them, and be the compassionate leader they want you to be.

Leaders have understood the importance of empathy in the workplace and how it's essential to build a positive culture. We hope this trend sustains beyond 2021.

6. Shifting In Leadership Style

To overcome of the covid crisis, leaders must emphasize its leadership practices and inquire about their existing leadership style drawbacks. The business world now needs a flat culture with democratic leadership practices. A Flatter culture helps organizations to build internal communication of the employees and boost their morale. It gives everyone the ability to make quick decisions and adapt to cultural changes within the organization. With democratic leadership, leaders give their employees the voice to put forward their ideas and opinions. It helps build a collaborative and creative work environment, builds employee productivity, and fosters mutual respect for all.

7. The Need To Develop Self And Others

To keep up with the constantly evolving technology environment, leaders can't sit back and think, "I know what I need to know," because what they know now is tomorrow's obsolete. The desire to improve yourself and your teams are now increased. Covid has shown everyone the reality check. Many HR leaders failed to develop suitable strategies in response to the pandemic because nobody was prepared to respond to such uncertain situations.

Also, compared to the past decade's work culture, workers are less committed to jobs, which means that employers must do all they can to retain their employees in the workplace as long as possible to enhance their workforce turnover. Is it not time to fix something here? The need for self-development to be more relevant and proactive is the key.

Finally!

At the beginning of 2021, the business experts had predicted remote working to be the next big leadership trend for organizations worldwide. But none of them would have imagined how remote working will shape the future of work in the faintest of their dreams. If not anything, Covid 19 has taught adaptability and its importance to the world.

Leadership trends are meant to provide insights and the needs of the current work culture around the world. We hope the blog can give you some insights on the prominent trends that will sustain this year. Do let us know your views on the leading trends and how we can make a work culture satisfying and fulfilling for everyone.

Related: 25 Leadership Qualities That Makes You A Good Leader

This article is written by Braja Deepon Roy. He works as a Content Creator and Digital Marketer at Vantage Circle. He actively participates in the growth of corporate culture and keeps himself updated in this space. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Building and managing a successful internal communications strategy can be a tall order for large enterprises with a distributed workforce.

This blog will cover the importance of building an internal communications strategy that drives business results. As well as the must-follow steps for implementing and managing a successful IC strategy.

Internal Communication Strategy Defined

Internal communications strategy includes activities, procedures, rules, and regulations for creating and managing communications in the workplace.

Every strong IC strategy should provide answers to the following questions:

What is the goal of employee communications strategy?

• Who handles defining, implementing, and managing the strategy?
• How will the strategy be implemented and sustained in a way that delivers high ROI?
• How will they measure success?

Even though many organizations are becoming more and more aware of the importance of having a clear IC strategy, 60% of them still don’t have a long-term strategy.

The Importance of Building a Strong Employee Communications Strategy

Communication in the workplace can have a significant impact on employee and organizational success. With the emergence of remote work and distributed workforce, employee communications have become critical factors impacting employees’ working experience.

Let’s consider the main reasons why every organization should define and implement a solid internal communications strategy.

Align employees with corporate culture and strategy

According to research, 72% of employees don’t fully understand the company’s strategy.

Poor workplace communication with a lack of transparency is the main reason for such a high number. Therefore, having a good internal communications strategy can go a long way in driving better organizational and team alignment.

Improve crisis preparedness

2020 was a test year for many employers’ crisis management efforts. COVID-19 pandemic will have a significant impact on business continuity for organizations across the world. Organizations were asked how they could improve their preparedness for the crisis. 29% of them responded with “Execute a more timely and robust communication plan.”

Increase employee productivity

The way employees and managers communicate with and among each other can also impact employees’ productivity— moreover, employee productivity increases by 20 to 25% in organizations where employees are connected.

Keep employees motivated and engaged

Leaving employees in the dark can have a very negative impact on employees’ motivation and engagement. Yet, many employees still feel that they are missing essential company updates. On the other side, 85% of employees say they’re most motivated when management offers regular updates on company news.

Improve change management initiatives

Communication in the workplace is one of the most vital necessities for successful organizational change, such as digital transformation, mergers and acquisitions, and similar. Moreover, 29% of employees say that poor internal communication is why new projects fail.

Boost employee safety and compliance

Frequent, honest, and transparent communication is also crucial for improving workplace safety. As well as reducing healthcare accidents and reducing healthcare costs. Yet, only 55% of organizations have a crisis communication plan in place.

How to Build a Successful Internal Communications Strategy?

Now that you know the benefits of workplace communications let’s look into implementing a successful IC strategy.

1.Evaluate your current strategy

Before even considering implementing a new strategy, defining and understanding the current strategy’s downsides and bottlenecks is crucial.

In other words, internal communications professionals should know what needs to be improved to achieve better business results.

Some of the aspects of your current IC strategy you may want to assess includes:

• Is your IC function producing relevant and engaging content?
• Is the content delivered via the proper communications channels?
• Is the content provided to the right employees at the right time?
• Do leaders and C-level executives take part in your communications initiatives?
• Are your employees encouraged to participate in two-way communications?

2. Define goals and key objectives

Every successful internal communications strategy should have a clear set of goals and business objectives. Yet, tracking the success of internal communication is quite complex. It is why are still not measuring internal communications.

Even though measuring IC is not easy, this doesn’t mean it is impossible.

Moreover, internal communications touch many different business areas and parts of various employee journeys. It has the potential to have a major influence on business and people-related KPIs.

When we talk about IC, there are 3 different sets of KPIs to consider. Here are the examples:

• Internal communications KPIs such as open rates, readership, and click-through rates
• Employee-related KPIs such as employee retention, engagement, and performance
• Business KPIs such as customer satisfaction, workplace accidents, and employee advocacy

3. Identify employee personas

Today’s workforce is multigenerational. It means employees have different preferences about the type of content they want to consume.

Furthermore, employees on specific job functions, such as frontline workers, may not have access to various tools that deskbound employees use.

Thus, leaders must engage with their workforce to set a solid internal communication plan. And define employee personas based on various criteria such as:

• Job functions
• Job nature
• Geographic locations
• Spoken languages
• Generations
• Content preferences

It is critical to define employee personas. It makes it easier for employees to communicate and engage with each other.

4. Create and distribute personalized communications

Once you define employee personas, it is much easier to create smooth internal communications channels. However, many IC professionals are struggling to get employees’ attention and engagement with their in-house campaigns.

The biggest reason for that is a content irrelevancy. In other words, not every employee should receive every piece of company information. Instead, the content should be hyper-personalized.

When you think about why people use social media, you will understand the importance of personalization. If our social media feeds were not so personalized and aligned with our preferences, we would not use them to the extent we do.

5. Distribute timely communications

Organizations with many frontline employees have experienced the importance of timely communications during the current pandemic. It has never been as essential to deliver trustworthy and timely updates to the employees.

Healthcare and retail workers, for example, need to stay informed and aligned with new government regulations and company policies. Unfortunately, reaching them may be challenging because they are rarely spotted seated at their desks.

So, timely communications should be one of the most critical aspects of every successful internal communications strategy.

6. Streamline your communication ecosystem

Today’s workplace communication ecosystems can be very complex. Moreover, some organizations use dozens of different communication tools and channels.

Even though all these tools aim to improve workplace communications, too many solutions can confuse and frustrate employees.

Such complex communication infrastructure is also one of the main reasons why vital information often gets lost.

Emails, which used to be one of the most effective means of workplace communications, are now considered unproductive communication channels.

It is not surprising as employees’ inboxes are full of information that doesn’t even need their attention.

According to research, 62% of the emails received by employees are not necessary. As a consequence, emails are now considered as one of the biggest productivity stoppers among employees.

The best solution to get around this challenge is to merge your various business instant messaging tools such as MS Teams and Slack, intranets such as Sharepoint, document sharing tools such as OneDrive, and enterprise social networking tools Yammer in a single communications platform.

This way, employees will have a central place to access any information whenever they need it.

7. Implement an internal communication app

All the previously mentioned steps are hard to accomplish without the proper employee communications apps. The reason behind designing such solutions is to:

• Empower communicators to streamline their communications efforts
• Better understand their employees’ communication preferences
• Segment audiences

So, deliver more personalized and timely employee communications, regardless of their locations and job functions.

But, in the sea of various communication tools available on the market, it may be hard to choose the one that best fits your organization’s needs.

When searching for a workplace communications tool, these are the must-have features to look for:

• Robust audience segmentation and filtering
• Content personalization is based on employees’ interests and characteristics, such as location, job function, language, etc.
• Easy content creation, management, and distribution
• User-generated content
• Integration with various communication channels. Such as intranets, email, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and others
• Push notifications for emergencies and important updates
• Integration with HRIS systems (e.g., Oracle and Azure) for easier user management
• Analytics, dashboards, and actionable communications insights
• Employee advocacy features such as external content sharing to all the major social media channels.

8. Measure the success

Earlier in this blog, we discussed the importance of defining communications KPIs. But, limiting them doesn’t make sense if those KPIs won’t be continuously measured and assessed.

Yet, only 54% of respondents in a VMA group study agree that progress towards communications objectives is being researched, measured, and evaluated with metrics and KPIs.

Here, proper communications technology plays a significant role. Modern employee communications solutions enable users to tie communication campaigns to particular goals and KPIs. They empower communicators to build and manage internal communications strategies with high ROIs.

Additionally, advanced internal communications solutions with real-time, AI-powered analytics are being built to turn complex data into easy-to-understand, valuable, and actionable insights.

For example, insights around why and which employees prefer one type of content can go a long way, especially in improving your internal communications strategy.

Bottom Line

In the world of uncertainty and during these unprecedented times, internal communications professionals have become one of the most strategic business partners. They are responsible for keeping employees and other stakeholders informed, aligned, engaged, safe, and productive.

Thus, building a solid internal communications strategy is not an option anymore. Instead, it’s an absolute must!

This article is written by Anita Lankinen who has worked in both internal communications and marketing functions. She firmly believes in building meaningful connections between people and brands through relevant and engaging content. This is why she enjoys working at Smarp, which shares the same vision. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

In recent years, employers and business leaders around the world have been trying to predict the diversity and inclusion trends that will impact their work cultures the most.

The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a global lockdown, major events, protests, and conversations surrounding racism, systemic inequalities, and injustices, a new normal of remote working, an economic recession: there was a lot that the world had to grapple with.

All of these changes are significant factors in determining the upcoming and ongoing D&I trends for 2021. Companies have had to rethink, update, and revamp their diversity and inclusion strategies and initiatives. Doing so will lead to the creation of an equal and inclusive workspace, where employees feel appreciated and valued, regardless of their diversities. This will push company growth and help them be on the right side of history as well.

Diversity and Inclusion Trends in 2021

What are the diversity and inclusion trends for 2021? Let’s have a look:

1. An evolving remote workforce
2. Enabling diverse gender identity and gender expression
3. Multigenerational workforce
4. Eliminating unconscious bias in the workplace
5. Gearing up for systemic change
6. Diversity, equity, and inclusion
7. Hiring diversity professionals
8. Increased transparency in goals
9. Supporting employees' mental health
10. Looking beyond tokenism

Let us discuss these in some detail, shall we?

1. An Evolving Remote Workforce

With the COVID-19 outbreak last year, companies had no option but to adopt a work-from-home model. Although people are slowly going back to their workplaces, the remote work model is here to stay.

According to Global Workforce Analytics, 56% of the U.S. workforce can feasibly work from home. Moreover, 25-30% of the workforce will work from home by the end of 2021.

When working remotely, different employees have different living conditions. For instance, working women are expected to balance home and work-life, access to health facilities vary depending on internet facilities and geographical locations, there might be lack of a dedicated and quiet space for employees to focus on their work, and so on.

Thus, people in leadership positions need to figure out ways to bridge these gaps, and minimize such a distributed model’s challenges.

Related Article: Diversity and Inclusion in the Remote Workplace

Photo by Standsome Worklifestyle / Unsplash

2. Enabling Diverse Gender Identity and Gender Expression

In recent times, there has been increasing awareness about diverse gender identities and gender expressions.

Globally, organizations have been trying to grapple best with these dynamics by adopting inclusive practices such as giving people access to gender-neutral restrooms, including employee health benefits for transitioning individuals, creating awareness around using inclusive language for gender non-binary and transgender employees, etc.

Related Article: 7 Benefits of Promoting Gender Diversity in the Workplace

3. Multigenerational Workforce

The working population has never been as diverse as present times. The generational makeup of the current workforce includes up to five different generations. This includes:

• The Silent Generation (born between 1928-45)
• The Baby Boomers (born between 1946-64)
• The generation X (born between 1965-1980)
• Millennials or Generation Y (born between 1981-96)
• The newest generation, Generation Z (born since 1997)

Each of these generations has unique expectations from their professional lives. They bring in different life experiences, voices and skill sets to a company.
It is important for employers, HR managers, and people in leadership positions to be aware of the attributes and abilities of each generation. Leaders should use different strategies that cater to, and celebrate employees of every generation.

4. Eliminating Unconscious Bias in the Workplace

Unconscious bias refers to the tendencies to process information and make decisions based on unconscious or inherent biases and prejudices toward an individual or group.

Unconscious bias impacts the kind of relationships we have with people and directs how we make decisions in the workplace.

To build a truly inclusive workforce with people from different backgrounds and experiences, business leaders must ensure that these biases are checked and minimized consistently.

Related Article: How to Outsmart Unconscious Bias in Recruitment

5. Gearing up for Systemic Change

2020 witnessed some significant events that highlighted systemic injustices and flaws across institutions. The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many innocent people of color exposed the grim realities of a racist and unjust society.

Organizations should gear up for some radical and much-needed systemic changes that will impact the functioning of societies and workplaces alike. Leaders should do their best to combat any discrimination against underreprented groups in their company. Policies should be put in place to ensure that the workplace is a safe hub for every employee.

Related Article: Confronting Discrimination in the Workplace (For Leaders)

6. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Many workplaces today focus on DEI instead of D&I. DEI stands for Diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Equity has become just as crucial as D&I in several global companies.

Equity in the workplace refers to fair and impartial processes and outcomes for each individual in the company.

To ensure fair and impartial processes and outcomes, leaders and employers need to be mindful of the challenges, barriers, and advantages at play for everyone at any given point in time.

Equity is the reminder that not everyone starts at the same level playing field, and so swift and vigilant action is paramount to building a fair workplace.

Related Article: How to Promote Workplace Equity? Here are 7 Effective Ways!

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com / Unsplash

7. Hiring Diversity Professionals

Yup, you read that right. It is interesting how ‘Diversity Professionals’ is a relevant job role at workplaces.

Companies are now hiring diversity professionals who are committed to the vision and mission of creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. These job roles are a mix of HR, recruitment, and leadership roles and responsibilities.

Diversity professionals carry on a number of tasks such as holding and organizing educative sessions on diversity and inclusion, creating an inclusive culture in the workplace, introducing new ideas to improve D&I in the workplace, rooting and pushing for the use of an inclusive language, managing complaints on harassment and workplace discrimination, etc.

As the role of diversity professionals have become increasingly popular, the trend of hiring them is only predicted to grow this year.

Related Article: How to Improve Your Diversity Recruitment Strategy

8. Increased Transparency in Goals

We know that more diversity in a company does not necessarily equal more equity and inclusion. While efforts at diversity may increase, the same is not always the case for efforts at inclusivity.

A growing diversity and inclusion trend in 2021 will be for companies to set transparent targets, goals, and D&I initiatives. Doing so will increase accountability of people in leadership positions, encourage honest conversations between employees and their bosses, and inspire them to share ideas and solutions.

Related Article: 8 Tips on How to Have Difficult Conversations With Employees

Photo by Kaleidico / Unsplash

9. Supporting Employees’ Mental Health

The unprecedented arrival of a global pandemic and its aftermath was a blow to the mental health of employees and professionals across the globe.

Even though the conversation around the mental health and wellbeing of employees was already gaining traction in the past couple of years, 2020 witnessed it take a whole new turn.

With businesses shutting down, people losing jobs, adjusting to the new normal of working from home, and the constant health scare of getting coronavirus, there was a lot that hampered the peace and sanity of employees.

Consequently, a relevant diversity and inclusion trend in 2021 will be for organizations to take intentional steps at supporting the mental health of its diverse pool of talent. This does not only include putting effective policies in place. The simple things like how supervisors, managers, and coworkers talk, behave, and empathize with each other matter as well.

Related Article: How Can Managers Support Mental Health in the Workplace

10. Looking Beyond Tokenism

Diversity and inclusion is much more than hiring that one POC, or including one woman in a panel full of men.

In 2021, it is time for organizations to do something solid and not just the bare minimum when it comes to incorporating D&I initiatives in place.
Diversity just for the sake of diversity, or political correctness, will not make the cut anymore.

It is now time for organizations to be more mindful, and intentional, about their diversity and inclusion goals and strategies.

Photo by Clay Banks / Unsplash

Final Words

Diversity and inclusion is now much more than a ‘progressive idea’ or concept. It has now become the need of the hour for organizations worldwide.

The above-mentioned diversity and inclusion trends only point to the fact that the world is hungry for radical change. It is time that organizations realize this and mold their company culture in all the right ways.

How many of these D&I trends do you notice in your company? How do you pursue them? Did we miss something worth mentioning?

Tell us in the comments below!

This article is written by Priyakshi Sharma who is a content marketer at Vantage Circle. In her free time, she is found writing about life, cinema, and everything in between. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

The pandemic gave rise to the onset of the work from home culture which has compelled companies to explore diverse types of team building approaches and virtual strategies.

Virtual team-building is a great way to indulge remote employees, but it has its drawbacks too. Lack of physical interactions can lead to communication gaps and during online interactions. Remote employees usually make short work calls, giving no time to discuss things apart from work. And oh! Let’s not even get to the technical glitches.

According to a recent study, employees working from home can reduce their productivity upto 21% due to feelings of isolation.

Now, life is slowly getting back to normalcy. People are returning after a long sabbatical from a regular 9-5 work life. Businesses must redefine their team-building strategies for people returning to workplaces.

Team building tactics may sound simple, but implementing them can be confusing at first. Hence, it is crucial to understand the types of team building and how organizations can benefit by implementing such activities.

So let’s dive into the various types of team-building approaches to build a successful team!

Here are the six types of Team Building approaches.

1. Activity-based team-building technique

An activity-based type of team-building exercise gives your employees a break from the daily usual work routine. It helps the team to step out of their comfort zone. Here, the team members indulge in various mental or physical activities carried out both indoors and outdoors.

Organizing team lunches and outings enhance communication amongst team members. It connects them personally and discovers hidden traits. Outdoor activities need the teams to step out of the office, which is not feasible at all times. Indoor team-building games such as a Foosball tournament or a scavenger hunt are an excellent mood booster too!

2. Communication-based team-building technique

The key to any social networking is communication.

Perfect for a new team with all new members, a communication-based team-building approach can be a great ice breaker. These types of group-building activities for the workplace allow the team to get to know their colleagues a little better and share a personal bond. It can help break communication barriers, improve interpersonal skills and build trust among the employees.

There are various communication-based activities online that your organization can adopt irrespective of your team’s size. Some of them are:

• The barter puzzle: Divide the members into smaller groups. Each group will be given a jigsaw puzzle with some missing pieces. The members will have to find the missing parts by negotiating with the other teams.

• Truths and lies: Every team member will write down two truths and a lie about themselves on a piece of paper. The rest of the team will have to identify the lie among the three. It is a great way to get to know the team members better.

3. Skills-based team-building technique

Are you thinking of a team bonding experience that can be fun and productive at the same time? A skill-based team-building activity can enhance the skills of the team members required for their respective jobs.

Employees acquire skills that are beneficial for their job, which will improve the team’s overall performance. They participate in various training and development workshops such as leadership skills, managerial skills, negotiation, conflict management and creative thinking skills.

Managers can also combine skill-based workshops with some fun activities to keep things interesting. One of the fun skill-based activities can be the “Back of the napkin” challenge.

The goal of this game is to promote creative thinking and teamwork. Provide the team with a napkin and a pen. Give them a set of problems or questions to which they have to find a solution in the form of a sketch, flowchart, or graph. The team with the best solution wins.

4. Personality-based team-building technique

A workplace can be a mix and match of all sorts of personality. Hence, managers need to identify and nurture the various personality types.

Team leaders can carry out a personality test, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Then they can coordinate tasks accordingly to bring out the best in all the group members. It helps employees to know their coworkers on an individual level. They are able to appreciate the uniqueness everyone brings to the table.

Some may perform better working with a large group of people, while the rest may prefer small groups.

Managers can assign tasks according to personality types. It will lead to better understanding and increased effectiveness in the team.

5. Problem-solving-based team-building technique

Challenges are inevitable in every team dynamic. When a large number of people are involved, clashes are bound to occur within the group.

According to this report, employees in the U.S spend approximately 2.8 hours each week involved in a conflict.

Problem-solving activities can improve communication, interpersonal relationships and mend differences to reach a common goal. The team leader must identify and analyze the problem. Then they must determine the best course of action to take.

You can make this process enjoyable by introducing fun games or exercises for the team. At the same time, you can learn how to work and grow together as a team.

Team members must take part with an open mindset and assess different ideas and solutions. This will make them have a deeper understanding of the team’s strengths and weaknesses as a whole.

You can have a look at these effective problem-solving activities that can help your team!

6. Value-based team-building technique

A Forbes report shows that millennials and Gen Y employees are more inclined towards social welfare. They believe in giving back to society.

A value-based team-building activity is a win-win situation for both the organization and the employees. Organizations can merge their CSR goals along with some outstanding team bonding experiences. It can give a meaningful experience to the employees by contributing to society and positively impacting the lives of those in need.

The activities can range from environmental, philanthropic, human rights, or economic responsibility. Events like charity cycling, cooking for a cause, and the welfare of the street dogs are some of the activities that your team must try. Such activities have also proven to boost employee engagement, employee morale, and job satisfaction. It can also act as a key factor in attracting young talent to the company.

Summing it up

All in all, team-building exercises should not only be a “fun time” in the office. It must also act as building blocks for bringing businesses and people together. Now the question arises, how frequently should there be a team-building activity?

In reality, what worked for a company might not work for another. It all depends on your objective and purpose. Therefore, there is no hard and fast rule to the routine of carrying out a team activity.

But there might be a few good indicators on when to conduct a team bonding exercise, which are:

• When a new member or two has joined the team.

• When you are planning to merge two departments.

• When you are trying to focus on a specific team issue or trying to improve a certain team aspect.

• When you are trying to improve internal communication. It can be between a geographically dispersed workforce or building camaraderie between them.

On a final note, regardless of the type of team-building activity you choose, be open to suggestions and feedback from your team as well.

Thadoi Thangjam is a content marketer and digital marketing executive at Vantage Circle. When she’s not geeking out over content strategies, she is probably hunting for the next perfect track to add to her playlist. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Since employee engagement is so critical, there is a vital need for overseeing the entire process. Thus, assigning efficient employee engagement managers is the first step towards enhancing engagement.

With the growing needs and modernization, companies shift their focus to finding new methods of engaging their people.

The primary role of engagement managers is to carry out a seamless employee engagement strategy. But are the leaders clear about the responsibilities that these managers need to fulfill in the long term?

This article will discuss the various roles that a manager and a leader have to perform towards organizational success.

Who are these Employee Engagement Managers?

To start with, these managers are your team leaders or organizational leaders. But, their roles are predefined and specific to help the other employees perform better.

The Employee Engagement Manager will create and introduce-

• A new engagement plan

• Essential onboard platforms

• Support critical improvement initiatives.

It is crucial to understand these managers’ functions and help create a better work environment. And it does not only stop there. The managers must promote diversity, foster learning, and acquire leadership qualities to lead the workforce.

Employee Engagement Manager and the Job they have to Perform

1. Onboarding Recognition Platforms

Employee engagement is paramount in building an employee-centric workplace culture. It is essential to focus on the fact that without any engagement or recognition platforms, the workforce workforce might face burnout at some level.

This is where an employee engagement manager comes to the rescue. Their core responsibility is to-

• Install solutions that will elevate work performance of the employees and boost productivity.

• Create awareness about recognition for long term success

• Provide fair and meaningful recognition

It is essential so that the employees feel valued and appreciated for their hard work and dedication. The selection of the proper recognition platform is necessary to avoid any shortcomings. It should be employee-centric, gamified, and user-friendly. The platform should elevate the employees' morale and foster a culture of appreciation.

To further help out the managers, Vantage Rewards has played a crucial role in assisting companies. It provides a reward-first culture by boosting employee engagement efforts globally.

Recommended: Vantage Rewards- Your one stop Employee Engagement Solution

2. Provide Growth and Learning Opportunities

Engagement does not always have to be about recognition and appreciating the efforts of the employees. It covers different aspects of an employee’s work-life within the organization. One such factor is heeding on their growth and providing fair opportunities.

Let’s break it down into simpler terms.

Imagine a workplace where the employees are doing the same work without acquiring any superior skills. How is it going to affect them?

Well, to start with the job will become quite monotonous. On top of that, there will be no room for any career advancement and skills development. This will make the employees disengaged, and they will lose the zeal to work.

But with the help of employee engagement managers, organizations can now -

• Provide the necessary necessary learning and development opportunities.

• Focus on the needs of the employees

• Organize skill development programs for the growth of the employees.

3. Incorporate A Feedback Culture

As a business leader, increasing the performance levels of your employees is as crucial as focusing on revenues.

Placing employees in the right job based on their skills is crucial. It will help elevate their work quality and organizational input.

But the big question here is- how will you have a systematic approach to determining employees’ strengths and weaknesses? To help you out with that, employee engagement managers need to install a feedback system. The feedback should be specific, on time, and transparent. An employee must know their strong and weak points to improve themselves in the long run.

Conduct timely surveys for appropriate feedback and have one-on-one meetings. The goal should be:

• To make the employees proficient in their jobs

• Fulfilling their necessary needs and requirements

• Helping them carry out their responsibilities without any hassle

• Keeping track of their performance

Read more: The Importance of Employee Performance Tracking in an Organization

4. Promote Diversity and Inclusion

Organizations in the past decade have acknowledged the need for diversity in the workplace. A diverse workplace treats everyone as equal and provides fair opportunities. When people from different backgrounds come together, there is sharing of new ideas and thoughts. In return, it elevates work experience.

One of the most crucial and essential roles of an employee engagement manager is to promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace. The need to create awareness about a diverse workforce has proven to be pivotal. It -

• Increases productivity and improves creativity and innovation

• Fights unconscious bias

• Provides the flexibility to hire from a vast talent pool, and so on.

But the main advantage is the equal representation of gender identities and underrepresented minority groups. Thus helping in elevating the global reputation of the organization.

Read more: A Definitive Guide on Diversity and Inclusion

5. Active Role in Hiring

Hiring managers have a critical role in onboarding the right candidate. It is a vital process and will need a proper framework to grab some of the best talents.

The system needs to be robust and flexible. This enables the hiring managers to measure their talent acquisition practices. And to do that, the hiring department will need the help of employee engagement managers.

The engagement managers will be able to provide them with engagement analytics that will help in recruiting.

These managers have the resources to present-

• Behaviors of engaged employees

• The signs of an ideal candidate

• The means to showcase the necessary requirements

• Accurate analytics of hiring trends

A well-defined approach towards recruitment will help organizations towards perfect acquisition.

End Note!

The needs and requirements of this ever-growing corporate world increase over time. It can hamper the engagement of the workforce.

And to make sure that there is no lack in providing the bare necessities, the engagement managers play a significant role. They keep the engagement efforts of the organization intact. It requires the right strategy and a proper approach to make it possible. If you have any more suggestions, then do let us know in the comments section below.

Mrinmoy Rabha is a content writer and digital marketer at Vantage Circle. He is an avid follower of football and passionate about singing. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Do you see your coworkers wearing something orange-ish at work today? Does it seem unusual? If you were born and brought up in Australia, I am sure you know what I am talking about. Yes, orange is the color people wear to show support for Harmony Day or rather Harmony Week.

What is Harmony Day or a Harmony Week?

In the current world of globalization, people travel worldwide and stay away from their birthplaces. That is why embracing diverse cultures becomes very important. With this regard, the Australian government introduced Harmony Day. The day, especially for the elimination of racial discrimination prevalent in the country.

Held on 21 March, Harmony Day or Harmony week is where Australians celebrate their cultural diversity. Australia is one of the most multicultural countries globally. Here, around 49% of the population were born overseas or one parent who was. The day honors and celebrates everyone's identity, inclusivity, and sense of belonging.

Harmony Day focuses on paying respect to everyone calling Australia home. Irrespective of their skin color, ethnicity, language, etc. It promotes social cohesion and racial harmony. Because this day coincides with the United Nations International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

However, Harmony Day events typically span a whole week of celebrations.

Thus, Harmony Day has been renamed Harmony Week. Mainly as it covers the entire week with events and activities at workplaces and educational institutions.

Harmony Day in the Workplace

Celebrating diversity is a necessity, be it at any place. In the workplace, there are people from hundreds of different cultural backgrounds. And this is where harmony week celebration holds vast importance.

Racial discrimination at work is pervasive. In Australia, around 10 percent of employees are subjected to racial slurs regularly. Thus, racial discrimination still exists in society. Therefore, it becomes vital to encourage employees to bond with one another.

As per research, workplaces where employees feel included and acknowledged drive them to be more productive. It eventually leads to better business performance. As an employer, it is your responsibility to promote a diverse culture at work. You ought to make the work environment harmonious for your employees.

If employers showcase their strong commitment to diversity, it will lead to inclusive, open, and respectful work culture. This way, individuals from different countries will feel welcomed and comfortable.

Then what are you waiting for? Start celebrating Harmony week at work and break those cultural barriers making the world a great place to live in.

Bring a change in your Workplace

Every organization's work culture must address and tackle racism in its own ways. Few steps can prove to be helpful when promoting acceptance and respect in your workplace:

• Follow what you preach. Lead the way by giving respect to every person, regardless of background, by promoting their culture.

• Address the acts of racism at work professionally, instead of discarding it.

• Spread the knowledge about Harmony Week amongst the employees and highlight the significance of supporting cultural diversity.

• Lend a hand to the workers who are facing mistreatment in terms of race and ethnicity.

Not that difficult now, is it?

Employers are responsible for the well-being of their employees at work- both physical and mental health. So, when the time comes to be there and support the workforce, it becomes a kind of obligation.

Policies around Racial Discrimination

Prevention of workplace discrimination is one of the critical areas an HR manager should be focusing on. As an HR professional, you must clearly understand the intensity of cultural bias and harassment at work. Also, support them on such crucial issues.

Employers must follow a no-tolerance policy for racial discrimination. Unfair treatment and bigotry because of one's appearance or origins cannot be tolerated or accepted. And employees who receive such slurs deserve to get a support system in the form of their employers.

So, let Harmony Day be a reminder to develop policies addressing discrimination and therefore implement them in the organization accordingly.

Harmony Day Activities

Harmony Week or Harmony Day is celebrated for a long time now. However, the activities do not have to be as grand as the day is. They can be anything and everything which can engage your employees. They can be big or small, easy or challenging, and can take any form you wish.

Morning tea with colleagues or a guest speaker at a staff meeting can also mean celebration. Infact, this gives one a platform to talk, share and accept the differences and similarities of one another, thereby fostering unity in the workplace.

Therefore, below mentioned are some of the harmony day events which are the simplest to implement.

1. Bring ethnic dishes- Have a potluck session. Ask all the employees to bring an ethnic dish from their cultural background and share it.

2. Discuss stories- Let the employees communicate with one another so that they get comfortable enough to share stories and have discussions. This will be a great way to break any barrier there exists in terms of culture.

3. Make it a Sports theme- Celebrate Harmony Day this year with a sports theme. Bring every employee together to play a team game. Each team must have individuals belonging from other cultural backgrounds.

4. Hold Art & Craft sessions- Hold art sessions to engage your workforce in crafting some art. Also, make it a cultural theme so that the staff can create anything that symbolizes their culture.

5. Wear traditional Costumes- Ask your employees whether they are willing to dress up in their traditional outfits as a gesture of sharing heritage. Along with being a traditional day, the office would look colorful as well.

Wrap Up

With everything being said, it leaves us with one question- why orange?

Orange is a color that signifies social communication, also leading to freedom of ideas and mutual respect. Therefore, the question should be- why not orange?

So, wear orange. Carry it. And show your support for cultural diversity and inclusiveness together with spreading the key message of Harmony Day - everyone belongs.

This article is written by Dipshi Bhattacharjee. Besides working as a Content Writer at Vantage Circle, she is an animal lover with a huge fascination for Cinema, Television & Foreign languages. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Any good leader, worth their salt, would know that today’s workforce seeks more than just an excellent salary. People want to work at places where their contributions are seen, valued, and recognized. For leaders looking to engage their people, it’s essential to utilize the research already available to you. This is where the need for employee engagement models comes in.

Investing in your people is the central idea behind employee engagement. If your people are happy and satisfied, chances are they will go above and beyond for every piece of work they do.

Similarly, demotivated employees are bad news for any business. For any leader, it is vital to ensure that any source of employee discontent is promptly taken care of.

The engagement level of an employee can be classified in three main ways:

• Actively Engaged
• Not Engaged
• Actively Disengaged

Fortunately, you are not alone in your endeavors. For the last decade, numerous industry-based research has highlighted the need for engagement.

Along with these advances, comprehensive studies have been carried out to create actionable employee engagement models to make engaging people easier.

But wait. What exactly do we mean by employee engagement models?

An employee engagement model depicts the roadmap of how to make an employee feel happy, empowered, and productive at work.

Years of testing and detailed studies by industry experts have gone into the development of these models.

This makes it an excellent place to start for companies looking to get more involved in engaging their people.

This article will focus on the five crucial employee engagement models that every leader should know about.

5 Powerful Employee Engagement Models That Boost Productivity

Aon Hewitt Engagement Model

Aon Hewitt is one of the world’s leading consultants on human capital management.

Thus, it’s safe to say that their ideas and study of employee engagement will impact any company looking to make their people feel happy and satisfied.

Aon Hewitt’s employee engagement model can be summarized as below:
These are the areas over which management has a great deal of control—the action areas.

The extensive research done by Aon Hewitt formed the six major categories of employee experience, namely- the work people do, the people they work with, opportunities, total rewards, company practices, and general quality of life.

According to Aon Hewitt, the process of engaging people is influenced by six major engagement drivers.

Work

The job that people do should align with their vision and add value to their lives. Therefore, it includes aspects such as:

• Employee empowerment and autonomy
• Sense of achievement
• Work tasks

People

An employees’ work-life involves connecting with a diverse set of people. It may include:

• Employee-employer relationships
• Supervision
• Collaboration

Quality Of Life

The quality of work-life consists of factors such as:

• Job security
• Safety
• Work-life balance

Company Practices

The company-wide practices and policies hugely affect the overall level of engagement.

• Diversity and inclusion
• Communication
• Innovation
• Talent and staffing
• Performance management

Total Rewards

Employee appreciationhas a profound impact on workers’ sense of value and identity. Thus, we should prioritize the following factors:

• Recognition
• Rewards
• Pay
• Compensation/Benefits

Opportunities

The opportunity to grow personally and professionally is vital to engagement.

• Learning opportunities
• Career opportunities
• Training
• Promotions

According to Aon Hewitt, higher levels of engagement will reflect the following results:

Say: Engaged employees speak positively about the company to peers, potential employees, and customers.

Stay: Engaged employees feel proud to work at a particular company with no intention of leaving.

Strive: Engaged employees go above and beyond to contribute to business success.

Zinger Model of Employee Engagement

David Zinger, a well-known global management consultant, introduced the Zinger Model of Employee Engagement.

With over 25 years of experience in this field, Zinger’s work focuses on improving employee engagement by building meaningful workplace relationships.

And that does make sense. After all, wouldn’t you like to work at a place that values and appreciates you?

The David Zinger model illustrates the modern workplace’s various features, including employee experience, motivation, and commitment. In addition, the Zinger model provides leaders with 14 critical strategies that have the potential to enhance the employee experience. Let’s have a look at these factors:

1. Achieve Results

The ultimate aim of the Zinger Model is to reach higher levels of employee engagement in an organization. As a leader, the key questions to consider are:

• What do you hope to achieve?
• How will you know once you achieve it?

2. Craft Strategies

The first and foremost challenge to getting any result is to develop the right effective strategies. Before forming any strategy or plan, leaders should consider the following aspects:

• How will we get those results?
• Does everyone know the organization’s intentions and goals?
• Is our strategy engaging?
• Will there be adequate employee involvement to carry out the strategy?

3. Connect

When employees feel engaged, a large part is attributed to their connection to their peers and the work environment. Therefore, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that connection is synonymous with engagement.

4. Authentic

The manner of engaging your people should be authentic at best. Powerful engagement is driven by genuine, heartfelt, and meaningful actions. If your people feel like your efforts are just a corporate exercise, engagement will never happen.

5. Recognition

Meaningful rewards and recognition drive powerful engagement. Timely, frequent, and value-based recognition will truly elevate your employee experience to the next level.

6. Engage

“Engage” denotes the actions that drive engagement. To engage people, leaders must go beyond a stale one-time recognition effort. Instead, these actions should be dynamic, team-based, and continuous.

7. Enliven Work Roles

The roles of a worker hugely influence their work-life and its balance. Therefore, while the position should provide some level of competition, it should not overwhelm people.

8. Excel At Performance

Engagement heightens performance. Higher performance indicates engagement. Thus, it’s necessary to deliver an employee experience that enables people to do meaningful work.

9. Esteem Organization

The first indicator of disengagement is when your people don’t feel proud to work at your company. Some crucial pointer to look out for are:

• Are your people aligned with the company values?
• Do employees feel valued and feel like they are a part of the company?
• Are your people recommending your company to their friends and family?
• Do your people publicly advocate for the company?

10. Foster Community

A work environment that focuses on fostering good, positive, and long-term connections between people is vital to engage a workforce fully.

11. Serve Customers

To provide a seamless customer service experience, it’s important to note that motivated workers are more likely to succeed in these endeavors. In addition, happy employees are more likely to be available, helpful, and attentive to customer satisfaction.

12. Develop Career

To make your people feel 100% invested in their work, it’s essential not to overlook their personal development. Assure that your employees get the proper training and development opportunities to grow in their careers.

13. Leverage Energies

Employee engagement is a marathon and not a sprint. Ask yourself: Do we have enough energy to engage our people in the long run fully? Unless that happens, your turnover rates will see a spike once you stop the engagement measures.

14. Experience Wellbeing

The crucial part of any employee engagement measure is that it makes the employee feel good about themselves. People who are at their peak of health and happiness will be more productive in the long run.

Gallup Employee Engagement Model

It is a well-known fact that the best tool for measuring engagement is an employee survey (preferably pulse surveys). For several years, Gallup- the workplace analytics giant- was involved in answering the question that haunts every corporate.

How to measure employee engagement accurately?

After several years of a study spanning over millions of participants, hundreds of countries, and multiple languages- Gallup came up with an employee engagement model known as the Q12 Pyramid. And it worked.

The Q12 Pyramid quickly proved to be the gold standard in differentiating a productive work environment from a non-productive one.

The Q12 is not your typical engagement model. The Q12 is, in reality, 12 key questions that are used to track overall employee sentiment. These survey questions are pivotal in assessing how engaged, disengaged, or neutral your people are.

These Q12 questions are illustrated below:

1. Do you know what is expected of you at work?
2. Do you have the materials and equipment to do your work right?
3. At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does your supervisor or someone at work seem to care about you as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
7. At work, do your opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?
9. Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?
10. Do you have a best friend at work?
11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?
12. In the previous year, did you have the opportunities to grow and learn?

Schmidt Model of Employee Engagement

The Schmidt model, developed in 2004, places value on attracting and retaining people who would fit the culture and its people.

The model considers that if a business recruits the right people with the right expertise and competencies, the work environment becomes more positive.

Thus, people are more likely to feel committed and do meaningful work as a result.

International Survey Research Approach Model

The ISR model was developed in 2003 by using survey data from 3,60,000 employees and more from 41 companies worldwide. The ISR Model’s approach to measuring employee engagement focuses on three major components, namely:

• Cognitive (Think)
• Affective (Feel)
• Behavioural (Act)

According to ISR, the act of engaging people has three levels:

Cognitive (Think): When an employee believes in the company’s mission, values, and goals. It influences a sense of belonging and makes a person feel proud to work at a company.

Affective (Feel): It ensures that workers feel pride in their association with the company. This aspect is strongly related to corporate loyalty.

Behavioral (Act): It depicts the actions, beliefs, and feelings that an engaged employee feels towards the organization.

Companies should explore these three elements in detail to establish relevant and practical strategies for boosting engagement.

To Conclude

As a leader, which employee engagement model will you be focusing on more? Let us know your feedback and opinions in the comments section below.

This article is written by Barasha Medhi who is a part of the marketing team at Vantage Circle. Barasha can be found either searching for interesting HR buzzwords to write about or looking at pictures of cozy Bel Air mansions. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com.

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) have become an integral part of corporate culture ever since the widespread protests against police brutality, systematic racism, and discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, culture, etc. As a result, businesses are trying to figure out how to make their workplace initiatives more inclusive and diverse- questioning how to improve diversity and inclusion programs and policies.

It is indeed a challenging task because it focuses on creating a culture that’s equitable and supportive, and free from discrimination and workplace harassment for every employee.

Are you also thinking about how to improve diversity and inclusion programs as a part of your company culture? But, not sure how to get started? Honestly, there is a lot you need to do if you haven’t implemented a successful D&I policy. We suggest you must just start now. The longer you wait, the harder it gets to build a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture.

There are innumerous ways to improve diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and this article mentions 30 ideas to help you get started. These ideas are impactful steps you must take up right away, regardless of your budget, headcount, and bandwidth.

But first, let’s take a quick glimpse at:

What is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?

Diversity, equity, and inclusion, often referred to as DEI, are imperative for an organization to ensure a successful employee experience to achieve optimum employee engagement.

Diversity is the celebration of differences. Whether your workforce comes from a different cultural background, practices other religions, or belongs to the LGBTQIA+ community, as a company, you must recognize them and give them equal opportunities.

Also Read: 7 Types Of Diversity Modern Workplace Must Focus On

On the other hand, inclusion makes employees feel safe and creates a sense of belonging and trust towards your company. It is the assurance of safety, equality, and respect. Creating a safe and equitable workplace enhances employee productivity and eradicates differences ensuring innovation in the workplace and equal participation without inhibitions.

On the other hand, workplace equity ensures fair opportunities for every employee despite their age, race, culture, sexuality, gender, ethnicity, etc. You must level the playing field for every employee. In any workplace, equality refers to equal rights to every opportunity and exemption from any sort of discrimination.

As a result, an amalgamation of DEI ensures the successful implementation of Diversity and Inclusion programs and policies in an organization.

Also Read: 7 Ways To Promote Workplace Equity Alongside Diversity And Inclusion

This was a glimpse of DEI, now; let’s have a look at the 30 unique ideas on how to improve diversity and inclusion in the workplace:

How to Improve Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace

Ensuring an impactful D&I requires a balance of vital initiatives and giving importance to details. Usually, we only hear about significant activities but not about day-to-day work. So, instead of looking at D&I as “this or that,” you can gradually start by tackling smaller initiatives from the list of ideas on how to improve diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

1. Consider using gender-neutral language on all job descriptions- you must ensure a fair hiring process, and the job description is an essential part of it. Check for uses of “he/him/she/her” as the default, and make sure to change them into gender-neutral pronouns like “they/them.”

2. Conduct blind screenings and reduce unconscious biases during the process of resume review- usually, people with stereotypical “ethnic” names tend to send out more resumes before they get a callback, and resumes with female names receive less attention compared to men.

3. Ban “culture fit” as a criterion to reject a candidate- Unconscious bias often comes into existence when interviewers want to reject someone based on “culture fit.” Train your interviewers to articulate their explanation for rejection with more empathy to uncover hidden biases.

4. Encourage a diverse range of referrals- Let your employees think beyond the obvious. Ask them to refer people or their close ones to the company. All employees can help in the process of diversity by bringing in their acquaintances to an organization. Even if they don’t fit the “traditional” profile, you must give them a chance.

5. Make your job descriptions results-based- Studies have proven, if men apply for a job when they meet 60 percent of the qualification, women apply when they meet 100 percent. Instead of merely creating a checklist of skills, your job descriptions must focus on your new hires’ expectations.

6. Ensure a structured interview process and training- You must follow a script for the interviews. Candidates naturally share essential things in a conversational flow, but structured interviews result in fair hiring, reducing biases. Following a structure allows recruiters to learn and improve their talent acquisition skills.

Also Read: Diversity Hiring: 7 Effective Ways For Recruiting Diverse Employees

7. Make sure to include underrepresented employees in your interviews- But make sure not to appoint too many of them! Candidates want to see more diverse faces, but if you appoint only one particular female manager in every interview panel, it will not do justice. Instead, try to create a forum that includes people from various backgrounds and gender identities.

8. Introduce diversity and inclusion in the early stage- During employee onboarding, you must communicate your concern towards D&I, how you define it, and what policies you follow. Your new hires will have questions, and you must prepare yourself to answer them.

9. Keep a check on bathroom stock and sanitary requirements- It is a small yet essential task. If you have a coke and beer budget, you must also keep a check on tampon stocks and other toiletries.

10. Create a D&I channel as a part of your communication tool- You can create a Slack or Skype channel meant for D&I where employees can share news, blogs, and articles. It will normalize talking about sensitive and gender issues in the workplace.

11. Celebrate important events for underrepresented groups- Take equal participation and show your solidarity towards events like Black History Month, Juneteenth, Pride Month, and LGBT Parades.

12. Give necessary rewards and recognition- When employees go above and beyond, you must recognize them and appreciate their hard work irrespective of their gender and cultural identity. This also enhances your work culture and makes it a great place to work.

Vantage Circle is dedicated to providing the best employee engagement and benefits for corporate employees. If you want to implement a successful and seamless reward and recognition program for your workforce to improve diversity and inclusion, get in touch with our experts. Schedule a free demo today!

13. Allow workplace flexibility- You must learn to trust your employees and give them the freedom to plan their work hours. People might have personal restrictions and situations (like dropping their kids to school, going to the therapist, working women who manage household chores and their jobs simultaneously, etc.) that might restrict them from working a strict 9 to 5 job. Lack of flexible work hours might leave an employee stressed and frustrated and can result in attrition.

14. Check the office temperature- The temperature in many office buildings is set as per men’s comfortability. It is a possibility, many employees would feel uncomfortable wearing sweaters and jackets on the office premises during work hours, and you must not ignore that.

15. Keep a check on the reading materials in your lobby- If your company provides magazines, ensure they’re related to the industry or line of business instead of subscribing to gendered topics. Unless your line of business focuses on fashion and lifestyle, GQ will not be a relevant read.

16. Make inclusive bathrooms and signs- Do not just use the symbols “he/she,” instead hang signs that say “for those who identify as” above the gender signifier on bathroom doors. This will help transgender and genderfluid people to feel comfortable using the bathroom without being judged. Also, everyone wants to enter a bathroom that fits their gender identity.

17. Introduce a mother’s room- New mothers and nursing women usually have a tough time finding a space to pump breast milk. This is not only an ethical and moral thing to do but also is a legal essential depending on your work location.

18. Plan team-building activities during the day- If you keep all the fun team-bonding activities to happen at 5 in the evening, many won’t participate. Working parents, caretakers, millennials with vivid lifestyles might not turn up, and you must ensure everybody’s equal participation to improve diversity and inclusion in the team.

19. Make inclusive merchandise- Do not make gender-specific merchandise or office gifts. Invest in unisex or non-binary products, and this will exempt you from being gender bias.

20. Organize team lunches and potluck- As managers and leaders, invest a little in team lunches, outings, and potlucks. When employees come together in potlucks, they bring their ethnicity and culture along with their food. This enhances employee engagement and develops healthy relationships amongst colleagues.

21. Take a look at your UI- From your website to apps to career pages, make sure to check the demographics you represent in the photos and in your leadership bios. Candidates might interpret a non-diverse interface as a sign of non-inclusive work culture.

22. Start writing- To showcase your interest in diversity and inclusion, you must start blogging. Leaders must publicly share their ideas on diversity issues. Incorporate your employees’ participation, especially the underrepresented groups, to write about their personal experiences; after all, diversity attracts diversity.

23. Invite guest speakers from the D&I community- If you’re continually holding HR and technical workshops, consider inviting an expert from the D&I to give a talk. From your leadership and management talks, remember to keep a couple of slots for D&I as well.

24. Imply Round Robin Meetings- Here, you get to ask every worker present in the meeting and encourage equal discussion. People can share ideas by ensuring everyone gets a chance to keep their point of view.

25. Organize CSR events- Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an integral part of improving diversity and inclusion. When you show compassion towards the underrepresented and underprivileged people- you gain respect, love, and support from everyone.

26. Provide learning and development opportunities- Organizing learning and development workshops will help workers enhance their skills and perform their best. When you focus on knowledge enhancement, you attract an inclusive workforce.

27. Update the sick leave policy- When you allow employees to take sick leaves every month, consider adding mental break along with it. This shows your priority and concern towards employee mental health. A small change that results in lesser burnout and eradicates loss of productivity.

28. Introduce a book club- Literature can teach you so much in life and helps to reckon predicaments. Hosting a book club is a way to get your employees connected. Literature has a lot to offer in D&I as it enhances communication and encourages a diverse voice of perspectives. Consider focusing on black, queer, and postcolonial literature as it speaks about subjugation, oppression, and the fight for equal human rights.

29. Host a movie night- If you think finishing a whole book is tedious, movie night is another way to stimulate conversations amongst the team members. You can choose movies directed by black or female directors that have made an impact on society.

30. Finally, make sure you hear out your employees- ensure to lend a helping hand to your employees when they’re down and actively hear them out with diligence and patience. Empathy is the key to a successful D&I program.

Wrapping Up

If you want to enhance your company culture and attract a diverse talent pool but do not know how to improve diversity and inclusion in the workplace, take help from these 30 unique ideas.

Do let us know if these ideas helped you to improve diversity and inclusion in your workplace!

This article is written by Gautam Gayan. He works as a Content Marketer at Vantage Circle. Apart from being a passionate content creator for HR services and employee engagement, Gautam is a theatre enthusiast, an avid reader and an aspiring poet. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Do you have a friend at work? If you have one, you know what a humongous difference it makes in your workplace.

Workplace friendship has a significant effect on your work satisfaction. One can seamlessly manage the usual office politics, struggles, and day to day ups and downs. In short, they improve the good days and make the poor ones bearable.

Frankly, while spending maximum hours at my workplace, I can't imagine going through any of the things I've been through without my coworkers' help. And I can't imagine my work life without them who have become my friends.

Is It Okay To Look For Friends At Work?

Credits: Giphy

It's very natural to look for friends at work, and it's necessary for professional success. As I already mentioned, we spend most of our time at work, and if we don't like the people we work with, getting through the day becomes even more difficult. We'll have a lot more happy (and productive) days if you enjoy each other's company.

Facts and Figures That Proves Why Friends At Work Are The Best?

Gallup's workplace analysis is one of our favorites. Let's see what Gallup has to say about workplace friendship and its benefits.

According to Gallup, getting a job BFF is one of the most significant factors in employee engagement and satisfaction.

Our research has repeatedly shown a concrete link between having a best friend at work, and the amount of effort employees expend in their job.

Those who [have a best friend at work] are seven times as likely to be engaged in their jobs, are better at engaging customers, produce higher quality work, have higher well-being, and are less likely to get injured on the job.

Women who strongly agree they have a best friend at work are more than twice as likely to be engaged (63%) compared with the women who say otherwise (29%).

Read our blog on: The Challenges Faced By Women in The Workplace

Gallup also discovered that women who firmly believe they have a best friend at work have the following feelings:

• Less likely to be actively searching for or monitoring job openings.
• More associated with their colleagues, respecting what is expected of them, and trusting their honesty and ethics.
• Less likely to record a negative daytime experience, such as workplace stress or feeling tired.

If these aren't enough, here are some LinkedIn findings which are similar to GallupGallup:

Linkedin found many exciting data about having friends at work:

• It boosts employee satisfaction, employee motivation, and productivity, particularly among your younger employees (ages 18-24)
• Socializing and friendships are critical for moving up the career ladder, according to 1/3 of Millennials.
• Fifty-one percent of staff maintain contact with former coworkers, resulting in boomerang employees or increased turnover in poor environments.

Read our blog on: High Employee Turnover: 6 Major Reasons (+How To Solve Them)

If we look otherwise, there are hardly four arguments against having close friends at work:

1. It invites unhealthy competitiveness and rivalry, causing tension and stress.
2. It might disturb corporate hierarchy.
3. Being considered too close with a coworker who isn't viewed in high regard might negatively reflect you.
4. You might get stuck in negativity as a result of co-rumination.

Having said the above, having friends at work can be the bright spot of your workday—as long as you take the proper precautions.

What Does Workplace Friendship Need?

In his book "The Best Place To Work," psychologist and author Ron Friedman states that friendship requires three ingredients: physical proximity, familiarity, and similarity, all of which can be found in the workplace.

But there's one thing that's a little more difficult to come by at work that can make friendship a reality: sharing secrets or emotional information.

Is it, however, really prudent to share emotionally sensitive details with colleagues in a competitive workplace? The answer differs from person to person.

So, how do we make friendships—or establish deeper relationships in the workplace?

It isn't as easy as it seems. It's vital to maintain a professional demeanor and respect individual boundaries, and you must remain true to yourself. Here are some ideas/rules of making friends at work that we must consider.

7 Simple Rules of Making Friends at Work

Credits- Giphy

1. Focus on building rapport

To link with, look for someone who shares your interests and is in a similar stage of their career.

2. Make the most of simple social situations

Work happy hours, inviting someone for lunch, community service activities, and so on are all great ways to develop a friendship.

3. Don't overdo the boss/employee relationship/friendship

Honestly, regardless of what you and your manager share and how much fun you have together, they are still your boss. It isn't to say you can't talk about anything other than work or spend time together outside of the office; it just means you have to be a little more selective about what you communicate.

Read our blog on: https://blog.vantagecircle.com/employer-employee-relationship/

4. Don't judge

Friendship knows no bounds, but how you and your colleague want to spend time does. If a coworker can't join the rest of the team for a happy hour because they have to pick up their kids, be open to suggesting ideas during the workday. Maybe you could replace happy hour with lunch at your favorite restaurant. Alternatively, if you know they don't drink, expect to get coffee instead of drinks.

Recognize that while everybody wants to hang out, they all come from different places, have different interests, and come from diverse backgrounds. So, instead of excluding others because they don't want to do precisely what you want, be adaptable. That way, you'll make a lot of valuable connections.

5. Recognize their efforts

Kelly Quinn, HR manager at Nurse Next Door, explains it pretty clearly, "As you would in a friendship outside of work, recognize your coworkers who have gone above and beyond for you or the company. We're all hardwired to appreciate praise and reciprocate it. Additionally, as you develop a reputation for recognizing the work of others, more people will want to work with you, giving you more opportunities to foster those budding friendships."

Read our blog on: 70 Best Compliments For Coworkers

6. Keep your circle wide.

You're isolating your other coworkers by just hanging out with a few people and not making an effort to get to know them—and, frankly, making your job more complicated in the process. So, break the habit of just spending time with your friends and get to know the rest of your squad.

7. Don't rush.

Workplace friendships, like any other kind of relationship, take time to develop. Have a good time and use it as an opportunity to get to know your colleagues, even though they aren't your best friends.

Generally, it's challenging to admit oneself to another person. But that is precisely the argument. No one is flawless, and trying to be so will irritate others. Our shortcomings and insecurities are what distinguishes us as human beings, and when we reveal them, two things happen:

• People love it when you put their faith in them (especially when you share your imperfections). They feel better about themselves as a result of it. ("I'm the girl who others can trust on!")

• They get a direct link to you.

Friendship… is born at the moment when one man says to another, 'What! You too? - C.S. Lewis

My approach of initiating friendship at the workplace is to open up gradually. I give some details and wait to see how the other person responds. When the person responds positively, you know you've opened up just the right amount, but don't go overboard if they're not interested.

So, what if you've done everything above and still cannot connect to your coworker?

Relax. That's fine. It's not always possible to make friends at work, despite your best efforts. It may take time, or your coworkers may be too skeptical, socially awkward, or just too busy to put forth the effort to form friendships.

Remember, what matters most is that you pay your bills and advance your career. Spend your spare time doing other things you like or catching up with all of your other fabulous friends after you finish your job. Use your lunch break to get some exercise, run errands, or have a solo picnic in the park.

Above all, maintain a positive attitude and never give up hope—you never know when something will ignite a shared interest or a new friendship.

This article is written by Susmita Sarma, a podcast host and content creator at Vantage Circle. She was involved with media relations before shifting her interest in research and creative writing. Apart from being a classical music buff, she keeps a keen interest in anchoring and cooking. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Do you know what your employees expect from you? Your customers? You are more likely to know the latter since they are your priority. But if you are not aware of or do not pay much heed to your employee expectations, you may fail big time. If your employees are dissatisfied and show low morale, it is going to affect your business. Your employees are the most critical assets, and they drive your business. And it is your responsibility to understand their expectations and fulfill them.

Today’s workforce seeks meaningful employee experience that can make their life work life more comfortable and satisfying. An employee experience is an overall experience that an employee has during their lifecycle, and they communicate within the workplace. It covers all aspects like wellbeing, needs, and internal communication with the team members and managers.

When employee expectations are met, they enjoy a satisfying work experience. What are the major employee expectations that today’s workforce seeks? Let us find out.

Employee Expectations In Businesses Today

1. Positive work culture

Culture is something that can make or break an organization. A good culture will motivated employees to perform and fulfill the organizational goals. In contrast, a toxic culture can lead to low employee morale resulting in low employee retention and high employee turnover.

Culture is the organization’s personality, and every tangible and intangible aspect contributes to it. A company, therefore, needs to establish core company values that can keep everyone aligned.

According to jobvite.com, 46% of job seekers cite company culture as very important when applying to a company.

The statistics above tell a lot about what employees expect. The work environment and positive work culture draw employees and are potential reasons for rejecting an offer.

Related: Recognize Your Employees With Vantage Rewards

2. Recognition

Employees seek genuine recognition for the work they do. The dedication and time that one gives do not equate to a paycheck alone. People have needs, and often these needs are psychological and, therefore, must be compensated through other means.

Companies have realized the importance of recognizing their workforce and how these gestures can improve morale and boost employee satisfaction.

One of the easiest ways to do this is implementing a rewards and recognition platform that can cater to a diverse workforce. Digital recognition platforms also help in building internal communication among teams that are dispersed in different geographical locations.

Related: Recognize Your Employees With Vantage Rewards

3. Work-Life Balance

Work-life must add value to your life and make it more fulfilling. Hectic schedules and work pressure can derail one’s peace and make one dissatisfied.

Hence, the implementation of work-life balance is crucial. Companies understand that employees must be given flexible work schedules to balance their work-life and home life. The digitization or the technological evolution has made work processes run virtually.

Therefore, it is easier for companies to provide employees the benefit of remote working if required to bring a work-life balance. Implementing work-life balance programs is also necessary to bring more awareness and employee wellbeing to understand their needs and work on them.

Related: 15 Best Ways To Achieve Work-Life Balance

4. Respect and Trust

Respect and trust are what employees value the most. Employees want a work environment where they feel trusted and respected. It is also equally vital for them to be able to respect their peers or managers.

Employees can show a high level of disengagement when there is a lack of respect or unwanted behaviors. E.g., microaggression in the workplace is so prominent these days. People are judged for their appearance, gender, sexuality, ethnicities, and cultural background.

Employees who face microaggression are affected mentally, and it affects their overall productivity and wellbeing. They are also more likely to quit if the management takes no proper actions.

Related: 6 Practices To Ensure Trust In The Workplace

5. Transparency

Transparency is an essential aspect of employee expectations.

Transparency is the openness shared by the employer and the employees. Employees are only invested in the work they do when they are aware of the small/big decisions of the company. Also, when are well informed about any business strategy that is going to take place. People want to be included. People find a sense of fulfillment by being part of the larger story, making their effort count.

Therefore employees seek an open door policy. Companies must encourage them to ask questions and share their concerns. It will encourage them to discuss work issues openly and proactively. Also, provide them with a sense of respect that will boost their productivity and keep them satisfied.

Related: Why Transparency In The Workplace Can Help Your Business Grow

6. Feedback

Feedback is a great morale booster, and every employee expects feedback to be given to improve their performance. For them, it’s imperative for their growth and understanding of a job. Lack of feedback can create a lot of miscommunication. As well as employee dissatisfaction in the workplace.

Managers or leaders must master the art of giving feedback when it comes to redirecting employees. To point out the problems in a way that helps employees to understand the silver lining behind it is a challenging task for them, it seems. Many fail while doing it, but the good news is that employers can learn it over time.

Related: 8 Examples of Constructive Feedback With Sample Scenarios

Finally!

As you can see, employee expectations of modern business revolve around many aspects. It is more about providing a good employee experience to keep them happy and satisfied. You keep your employees happy, and they will take care of your business.

This article is written by Braja Deepon Roy. He works as a Content Creator and Digital Marketer at Vantage Circle. He actively participates in the growth of corporate culture and keeps himself updated in this space. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Did you know that workplaces with underperforming employees have 37% higher absenteeism and 60% more errors while working? If you look at these numbers, then you can clearly see the bigger picture of how it can affect employee engagement and organizational workflow.

An organization’s long-term success will depend on the performance of its employees. They are the ones that make daily operations successful and steer the company towards the path of achieving the goals and objectives. However, if the employees do not give their best, it can negatively impact the bottom line. You might need to think about the work culture and how the work environment influences an employees’ performance.

This article will focus on the 5 problem areas that hamper an employee’s expectations.

5 Signs That Every Manager Needs To Know about Underperforming Employees

1. Lack of Motivation and Enthusiasm

Employees that underperform lack the motivation and enthusiasm to perform their duties. They lack the drive to bring the best in them and find the job quite monotonous. It is quite difficult to manage such employees as they cannot bring the necessary focus and stay disengaged most of the time.

Such employees have a significant drop in productivity that can significantly influence the rest of your teams’ performance.

2. Increased Absenteeism and Decreased Satisfaction Levels

When employees start to miss out on office hours it becomes evident that they are finding it hard to settle in the workplace. With the rise in absenteeism, a manager has to understand that the employees are struggling and finding it difficult to prosper in the work environment. The prime reasons include the lack of work-life balance, toxic work culture, no prompt goal setting, and so on.

When such occurrences increase with time, employees tend to underperform as they will be distracted. Thus, resulting in decreased job satisfaction and high levels of absenteeism within the organization.

Learn More: A Complete Guide To Boost Employee Job Satisfaction

3. Does not Meet the Expectations

If you are not assigned the right job that fits your skills and experience, it can be difficult to perform the duties proficiently. The same goes for your employees as well. When they are not clear about their goals and responsibilities, it becomes difficult for them to meet the expectations. Unrealistic goal settings can lead to a drop in performance issues and decrease overall efficiency. Thus, leading to the poor performance of employees and leaving the job eventually.

4. Productivity Drop and low engagement levels

Employee engagement plays a pivotal role in overall organizational success. For the employees to perform well, they must get recognition in a timely manner for their efforts and dedication. However, if they are not appreciated for their performance it negatively affects their productivity and the zeal to work diminishes significantly. Resulting in low engagement levels that can harm the bottom line of the organization.

5. Poor Quality of Work

Another prominent sign of an underperforming employee is that they produce work but it is not upto the desired level. They lack the standard, cannot meet the performance goals, and deliver inadequately. They do not open up about their problems and never put their inputs in team discussions. This can hamper the growth of an employee and their overall progress. Eventually hindering organizational bottom line and increasing disengagement.

Reasons and Dealing With Underperforming Employees

1. No Goal Setting

One of the prime reasons that employees underperform is due to unrealistic expectations and no proper goal setting. Without clear instructions and accurate information from managers, employees tend to lose their way from their goals and responsibilities. This makes the employees lose their motivation and the enthusiasm to bring the best in them. Thus, leading the employees to underperform even though they are talented and skilled.

The Solution-

The perfect way to bring the best in an employee is by providing them with realistic goals and responsibilities with the help of SMART goals. As a manager, you have to mentor the employees and guide them with the right approach. The more engaged they become in their work, the better they perform in the long term. Thus, improving the organization’s bottom line.

2. Lack of Recognition

71% of highly engaged organizations recognize employees for a job well done. It is a known fact that employees perform better when recognized and rewarded for their efforts and hard work. However, when managers don’t do that, there is a high risk that the employees will have a significant drop in performance and lack the motivation to complete their job. Thus, resulting in employees underperforming and decreasing their overall productivity.

The Solution-

To keep the workforce motivated and elevate their performance levels, you must recognize them timely. No matter where they are working from, acknowledging their dedication and commitment is a good trait of a manager. Encourage peer-to-peer recognition as well so that the team cohesiveness increases. And to help you with that, Vantage Rewards provides you with a perfect one-stop online platform where you can reward, recognize and appreciate your employees to elevate their morale.

Recommended: Vantage Rewards- Your One-Stop Solution To Employee Recognition

3. No room for growth and improvement

In this ever-growing and fast-paced corporate world, the growth of employees is perennial. They need to adapt quickly and blend in well with the changes to stay competitive. And to do that, they need to upskill and improve themselves continuously. But if they lack the opportunities to develop themselves, it becomes frustrating and at the same time, the job becomes monotonous. This leads the employees to lose interest in their work and they tend to have very low performance.

The Solution-

Providing the perfect training and development program for the employees will help them increase their skills and abilities. Encourage continuous learning so that they can relearn the basics and get accustomed to the changes. The more they learn, the better they will be able to develop themselves and blend in well with the different advancements. Also, practice active listening and heed to what the employees have to say and understand their needs to provide them with the perfect environment to work.

4. Workplace Stress and Burnout

Work-related stress and increasing burnout levels have been a rising concern for organizations. It not only degrades employee morale but also hampers productivity in the long term. A work environment that puts immense pressure on the employees to churn out results might always end up with underperforming employees. No matter how talented the employees are, if they are not given the breathing space, they will lose interest in working.

The Solution-

The best answer to employee burnout will be to delegate tasks while maintaining a robust schedule. Break the work and assign it to the employees who are the right fit. It is crucial to keep in mind that assigning the right role to the right person will significantly decrease burnout chances. This is because they will be proficient in their work and will be able to fulfill the responsibilities with utmost efficiency. Also, try not to pressurize the employees to complete the task before the deadline, provide them the time and flexibility they need. Give them the liberty to enjoy their personal life which can significantly reduce burnout in the long term.

Summing It Up!

Dealing with underperforming employees will need a proper action plan that will help the managers. Improving performance and regularly monitoring the employees who are not engaged should be the prime focus. It will require a proper talent management system and help them elevate their morale and engagement levels. If you have any more suggestions, do let us know in the comments below.

Mrinmoy Rabha is a content writer and digital marketer at Vantage Circle. He is an avid follower of football and passionate about singing. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com

Employee engagement tool helps measure or boost employee engagement which will improve the productivity and efficiency of the employees and reduce staff turnover. The engagement is measured and derived through employee feedbacks, using pulse surveys, 1-1 meetings, and many more. It can help boost employee motivation through peer-to-peer recognition and rewarding the best performers with awards, badges, or monetary rewards. It is critical to discuss the importance of health and fitness because, as the saying goes, a healthy workforce is a productive workforce. Employers must ensure that employee feedback is taken seriously and identify the necessary action plans through effective communication lines.

Features of Employee Engagement Tools

Employee perks:

• Employee discounts
• Instant vouchers
• Giftcards
• Memberships
• Mobility

Employee Recognition

• Peer to peer recognition
• On spot recognition
• Social feed
• Nominations
• Rewards redemption
• Reward Management

Employee Wellness

• Contests and challenges
• Tracking and reporting
• Leaderboards
• Sync with Wearable devices
• Health and fitness guides
• Personalized goals

Employee Pulse Survey

• Survey question templates
• Actionable insights
• Benchmarking
• Track engagement
• Negative feedback management
• 360-degree feedback
• Heatmaps

Employee Communications

• Content curation and creation
• Interactive content
• Employee directory
• Content performance analytics
• Social media integrations
• Social selling

Employee Advocacy

• Social network integration
• Track and measure engagement
• Content Booster
• Publishing Studio
• Content analytics
• Content sources
• Brand communications

10 Benefits of an Employee Engagement Tools

1. Enhances employee engagement
2. Improves employee retention
3. Gives employee the freedom to voice their opinions
4. Increases employee productivity and fosters innovation
5. Higher attendance and happy work culture
6. Workforce empowerment through rewards and recognition
7. Polishes teamwork
8. Promotes employee-manager communication
9. Proven employee satisfaction
10. Better employee health

• All
• Employee Perks
• Employee Recognition
• Employee Wellness
• Employee Pulse Survey
• Employee Communications
• Employee Advocacy

Vantage Circle

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• Employee Perks
• Employee Recognition
• Employee Wellness
• Employee Pulse Survey
• Employee Communications

Vantage Circle is a one-stop employee engagement and employee benefits platform. It provides world-class employee engagement solutions to corporates with its four primary modules, namely Vantage Perks (Employee Discount Platform), Vantage Rewards (Employee Rewards and Recognition Program), Vantage Fit (an integrated Employee Health and Wellness program), and Vantage Pulse, which is a tool to measure Employee Pulse within the organization.

Clientele

FirstSource, Tata Communications Ltd., Cognizant, Tech Mahindra

Link: https://www.vantagecircle.com/

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O.C Tanner

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• Employee Recognition
• Employee Wellness

OC Tanner is an employee engagement software platform that helps organizations uplift employee morale through rewards, recognition, and wellness solutions. It has various products like Recognition, Service Awards, Well-being, Thanks, Leadership, and Celebrations suitable for clients worldwide. Delivering services to over 180 countries caters to organizations of any size and enhances workplace relationships.

Clientele

Siemens, Fairmont, Norton Healthcare, Taco Bell, AGL Energy

Link: https://www.octanner.com/

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Reward Gateway

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• Employee Perks
• Employee Recognition
• Employee Wellness
• Employee Pulse Survey
• Employee Communications

Reward Gateway increases employee engagement and drives business results in an organization through employee rewards and recognition, employee perks, employee wellness programs, and employee pulse surveys. Mobile accessibility also provides employee communication so that the employees never miss an alert. The NPS feature enables real-time pulse determination and also analyses the critical area of improvement.

Clientele

KPMG, Samsung, Five Star Bank, ORBIS, American Express, Discovery Channel

Link: https://www.rewardgateway.com/

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Kudos

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• Employee Perks
• Employee Recognition
• Employee Communications

The employee recognition platform, Kudos, helps organizations enhance employee engagement and team communications. The exclusive KQ analytics and Culture Biorhythm give an insight into the value, culture, and behavior alignment. It also extends to communication capabilities bringing the employees together. Its multilingual feature eliminates the communication gap among employees.

Clientele

DHL Express, MTN, Appriss, Veritone, KidsPeace

Link: https://www.kudos.com/

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Bonusly

Visit Website

• Employee Recognition

Workhuman is a cloud platform of employee recognition and continuous feedback management, which was introduced by Globoforce. Through its five modules of social recognition, conversations, service milestones, life events, and community, the platform drives inclusion, retention, and employee engagement.

Clientele

Chobani, CBINSIGHTS, Assent, Dribbble, Headspace, Gilt

Link: https://bonus.ly/

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Workhuman

Visit Website

• Employee Perks
• Employee Recognition
• Employee Pulse survey
• Employee Communications

Workhuman is a cloud platform of employee recognition and continuous feedback management which was introduced by Globoforce. Through its five modules of social recognition, conversations, service milestones, life events and community, the platform drives inclusion, retention and employee engagement.

Clientele

Biogen, AtlantiCare, Baker Hughes, Cisco, Eaton, LinkedIn, P&G

Link: https://www.workhuman.com/

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Achievers

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• Employee Recognition
• Employee Pulse survey

Achievers is a cloud-based employee engagement solution that enables companies to engage their employees. It helps in driving retention, productivity, customer satisfaction, and other critical business outcomes. It allows employees to reward and recognize their peers with a curated marketplace of top brands. It also helps organizations to conduct pulse surveys through its platform called Listen. It helps to improve employee engagement and organizational culture.

Clientele

Ericsson, Mc Donald’s, Rogers, Ricoh, Meijer, Discover

Link: https://www.achievers.com/

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Peakon

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• Employee Pulse survey

Peakon is a people analytics tool that delivers actionable insights derived through real-time employee feedback. Through its universal accessibility, employees from anywhere in the world can participate in pulse surveys and give valuable feedback. It allows personalized engagement dashboards and supports over 50 languages, and is suitable for any size organization. It integrates with multiple third-party applications for a seamless experience.

Clientele

Trustpilot, World First, Lexitas, Text100, Capegemini, Verizon

Link: https://peakon.com/

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15five

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• Employee Pulse survey

Maximizing employee engagement and elevating employee performance are the critical ways of employee retention and attaining better productivity. The Private Manager Assessment ensures fair assessment and accuracy in performance management. 15Five helps the managers understand their team and subordinates through pulse surveys, check-ins, 1-1 meetings, and feedbacks. The question bank consisting of over 120 customizable questions helps gather employee experience and promotes better employee engagement.

Clientele

Salesloft, MailChimp, Evanto, Unbounce, Flipsnack, Techstyle

Link: https://www.15five.com/

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TINYpulse

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• Employee Pulse survey

Through real-time pulse surveys and feedback from the employees, TINYpulse helps the managers retain the top performers. The simple and intuitive UI makes the platform accessible for anyone in the organization. It gives a plethora of science-backed questions and templates for the managers to choose from. It helps the managers measure diversity and inclusion, the culture and values of the organization, and management effectiveness. It has also introduced features like employee recognition and performance management to induce cross-departmental cheers.

Clientele

Experian, Ben & Jerry’s, Drift, Indeed, Microsoft, Publicis sapient

Link: https://www.tinypulse.com/

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Officevibe

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• Employee Pulse survey
• Employee Communications

Launched in the year 2006, Officevibe provides real-time insights into your employees' happiness and productivity. With high-quality conversations, Officevibe offers a communication platform for the managers to engage with the employees. The 1-1 conversations help the teams discuss team and individual goals and objectives and prepare agendas for the meetings. The core features of Officevibe are anonymous employee feedback, reports and analytics, eNPS tracking, and 1-1 sessions.

Clientele

Bose, Trivago, Dyson, Wetransfer, PayScale, Crocs, Fujitsu

Link: https://officevibe.com/

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Culture Amp

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• Employee Pulse survey

Culture Amp is a cloud-based employee engagement tool that includes features like peer appraisals, 360-degree feedback, surveys, performance management, and many more. The platform helps the administration carry out effective communication among the employees through engagement and performance management modules.

Clientele

Yelp, McDonald's, AirBnB, Etsy, Adobe, Greenhouse, Oracle

Link:https://www.cultureamp.com/

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People Pulse

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• Employee Pulse survey

PeoplePulse is an Australian company launched in 2003, providing end-to-end solutions for custom employee and customer surveys. The varied reporting features enable the company to derive meaningful insights from the employees and the extended organization members. It also offers a free trial and supports training through documentation, live sessions, and webinars.

Clientele

Wisdom, Guild Insurance, Seek, Hairhouse Warehouse, QT Mutual bank

Link: https://peoplepulse.com/

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Wellable

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• Employee Wellness

Wellable is an employee wellness platform that delivers customizable, highly engaging employee wellness programs for employers to drive a culture of wellness and improve employee productivity. With the flexibility of direct integration with the leading wellness apps and wearable devices, Wellable helps the employees to track their real-time fitness performance. To provide an interactive wellness experience, Wellable also offers onsite and virtual wellness solutions, like health coaching, seminars, health fairs, fitness classes, etc.

Clientele

Acceleron Pharma, Cherry Creek, Veson Nautical

Link: https://www.wellable.co/home

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Virgin Pulse

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• Employee Wellness

Founded in the year 2004, Virgin Pulse aims to encourage employees to adopt a positive lifestyle change. The platform merges health, wellness, and financial benefits into one platform. It provides tailored solutions to health conditions through tips and coaching journeys. With intelligent personalization, the users can create their personalized health and wellness journeys.

Clientele

Acceleron Pharma, Cherry Creek, Veson Nautical

Link: https://www.virginpulse.com/

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LifeWorks

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• Employee Perks
• Employee Recognition
• Employee Wellness
• Employee Communications

Lifeworks is a unified total wellbeing platform. It provides rewards and recognition options to the employees in an organization. It also includes wellness programs for the employees to achieve health and fitness goals. Along with these, it also provides perks and savings benefits to the employees. With the help of a social feed, employees can connect with each other and celebrate victories.

Clientele

Marriott, Nestle, P&G, Canada Life, Ontario Power Generation

Link: https://www.lifeworks.com/

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MoveSpring

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• Employee Wellness

MoveSpring is a cloud-based fitness tracking platform that allows companies to manage employee wellness programs. The mobile app and web version allow administrators to onboard employees, create fitness challenges, connect them to wearable devices and track their progress. With different challenge modes, customizable content, and chat, the platform has become a successful employee-engaging wellness platform.

Clientele

Amazon, University of Kentucky, Uber, Deloitte, American Cancer Society

Link: https://movespring.com/

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Walker Tracker

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• Employee Wellness

With over 10 years of experience, Walker Talker is an online platform to track and create employee fitness challenges. Its simple-to-use platform grants the users' access to self register themselves and take part in the templated challenges. It offers enterprise and turnkey challenge plans with different features, including custom branding, dedicated account manager, mobile apps, etc.

Clientele

Michigan Education Association (MEA), Cigna, Westgate Resorts, Fallon Health

Link: https://walkertracker.com/

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Sprout

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• Employee Wellness

Sprout is an employee wellness platform that helps organizations centralize wellbeing initiatives by identifying and rewarding healthy behaviors. Employees receive recognition for their participation and can earn rewards through friendly competition. The platform also provides health tips and breathing and meditation exercises to improve the mental and physical health of the workforce.

Clientele

AECOM, CN, Johnston Group, Phoenix Contact, Newmarket, Nexant

Link: https://www.sproutatwork.com/

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TerryBerry

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• Employee Perks
• Employee Recognition
• Employee Wellness

Terryberry is an employee rewards platform that provides easy-to-use employee peer-to-peer rewards programs and recognition gifts that engage employees effectively. Terry Berry also extends healthy behaviors to the employees in an organization by giving an employee wellness program that helps employees get rewards for their physical activities.

Clientele

Airgas, NSF, Consumers Energy, Discount Tire, J.Crew, Mets

Link: https://www.terryberry.com/

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Fond

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• Employee Perks
• Employee Recognition

Fond is an employee reward and recognition platform that allows points allotment, recognizing employees for their work and achievements, etc. Employees on the go can use these points to redeem incredible rewards and exclusive corporate perks on the Fond platform. Its employee perk product, called Fond Perks, is a corporate discount platform that provides employees with instant access to discounts on hundreds of popular products and services.

Clientele

Mercari, CSD, Exeter Finance, Sephora, Hard Rock, Lyft, Delta Dental

Link: https://www.fond.co/

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Preciate

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• Employee Recognition
• Employee Communications

Preciate is software that is designed to enhance team-building, social interaction and increase performance and motivation. With features such as peer-to-peer recognition, hosting a virtual event, reports, and rewards, and many more. The platform helps the company increase employee engagement, improve employee retention and attract potential talents. With its social module, Preciate enhances communications among the employees and also with other extended groups.

Clientele

Compassion, Proven Recruiting, SSI, Brock Solutions, Credera

Link: https://join.preciate.com/

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Xoxoday

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• Employee Perks
• Employee Recognition
• Employee Pulse Survey
• Employee Communications

Since its inception in the year 2012, Xoxoday empowers employees to recognize their peers, managers, and direct reports making recognition candid, personal, meaningful, and social. With the help of perks, employees can get special discounts across different categories. HR can use research-based engagement surveys to gauge employee pulse with the help of ready survey templates for employee lifecycle like onboarding, learning, wellness, diversity, and exit. Questions, anonymity, and audience can be configured as per requirement.

Clientele

Capgemini, Infosys, Netmagic, Pepsi, Citi Bank, Hafele, Marico

Link: https://www.xoxoday.com/

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PerkSpot

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• Employee Perks
• Employee Recognition
• Employee Communications

Perkspot is an employee recognition platform that offers exclusive employee perks and benefits. Employees can recognize peers in real-time, which encourages better engagement across the organization. With the hub of over 200 brands, the employee can redeem their credits to purchase gift cards. Employers can also reward their employees with discount programs.

Clientele

Postmates, United, SouthWest, Walgreens, Advocate Health Care

Link: https://www.perkspot.com/

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BenefitHub

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• Employee Perks
• Employee Recognition
• Employee Wellness
• Employee Communications

With its global presence in 9 countries, BenefitHub is an employee engagement platform that offers employee benefits like employee rewards and recognition, employee perks, and employee wellness programs. Through its perks solution, it provides discounts across various categories. With its Rewards and Recognition solution, employees can recognize each other in real-time and add monetary values to rewards. From gyms to weight loss programs, Benefit Hub provides the widest selection of health and fitness benefits to keep employees well, healthy, and fit.

Clientele

UPS, McDonald's, Citi, Target, Toyota, Xerox, Amazon, Walmart

Link: https://www.benefithub.com/

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Perkpal

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• Employee Perks
• Employee Recognition
• Employee Pulse Survey
• Employee Communications

Perkpal is an online employee benefit and perks solution serving across companies in the UK. The platform is equipped with enticing perks and absolute rewards. For better communication among the teams, the software enables sharing the latest news and events and holding pulse surveys, encouraging the employees' feedback on it through comments and private messages. Perkpal includes employee discounts, free perks, rewards and recognition, and a communication module to drive employee engagement.

Clientele

Not disclosed

Link: https://perkpal.co.uk/

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HealthifyMe

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• Employee Wellness

HealthifyMe Corporate is an employee wellness platform for organizations that provides app-based gamified processes for the employees. Employees can participate in contests, register for fitness and nutrition drives to keep themselves fit and healthy. The platform generates reports portraying the employee progress and actionable insights.

Clientele

BMW, Coca Cola, ITC, Nestle, Cognizant, Philips, Infosys, Genpact

Link: https://www.healthifyme.com/corporate-wellness/

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Hootsuite

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• Employee Communications
• Employee Advocacy

Hootsuite is an employee advocacy platform that allows users to schedule and post content to the proper channels, tracked effectively. It will enable the employees to connect to the community, increasing internal awareness by sharing news across teams. Hootsuite provides the solution to communicate with people on social media platforms. The software also offers several graphical reports that may be customized and chosen from Hootsuite’s report template.

Clientele

Domino’s, NYC, Marketo, LongChamp, Helix, Hongkong Airlines

Link: https://hootsuite.com/

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Everyonesocial

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• Employee Advocacy

EveryoneSocial is a social selling and employee advocacy software for marketing, sales, and HR. The platform curates organizational news and content at one central location, allowing employees to share relevant content with their social media networks. It increases viral reach, bringing more traffic to the company and new business. The platform helps boost employee engagement.

Clientele

DELL, Genesys, Teradata, Adobe, Micro Focus, Mattress Firm

Link: https://everyonesocial.com/

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Smarp

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• Employee Communications
• Employee Advocacy

Smarp is an employee communication tool that allows employees to communicate efficiently. It delivers timely information to employees across various channels with one-click sharing options. Employees can see how well they stack up with their peers in driving traffic and engagement to the messages they share. With SmarpScore, an industry-leading influencer index, employees can improve their thought leadership position in their networks.

Clientele

DHL, KPMG, Amazon, Valeo, Marriott, Amrop, L'Oreal

Link: https://smarp.com/

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Dynamic Signal

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• Employee Communications
• Employee Advocacy

The Dynamic Signal tool is an employee communication and advocacy tool that permits sharing information like company news, content sharing, and other important information among the employees of an organization. The platform's ability to reach everyone and everywhere through its mobile application and desktop version connects and engages the modern workforce. Its survey and poll feature gives every employee a voice and a scope to share their feedback. Through the employees' performance and activity in the platform, it provides actionable insights with in-depth analytics. The users can seamlessly integrate Dynamic signal with their communication, content management, and 3rd party analytic channels.

Clientele

FedEx, Lenovo, Vodafone, Oracle, Samsung, Bosch, Nestle, Hitachi

Link: https://dynamicsignal.com/

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Sociabble

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• Employee Communications
• Employee Advocacy

Sociabble caters to the internal communication, employee engagement analytics, employee advocacy, and social selling needs of an organization. It is integrated with Scoop. It and Feedly to enable seamless content curation. It helps the company employee advocacy marketing and brand advocacy, allowing them to increase their social media influence. The users can win points for their engagement. Some of the gamification and engagement features include a leaderboard, campaigns, challenges, badges, etc. Initiated in the year 2014, Sociabble now has a presence in over 80 countries.

Clientele

Tata Consultancy Services, Microsoft, Roche, Groupe Renault

Link: https://www.sociabble.com/

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DSMN8

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• Employee Advocacy

DSMN8 is the solution for employee influencers, content creators, social sellers, and publishers. It consists of four modules. Advocacy offers the employees the platform to share their social content with the audience at large. Author is a content creation tool and allows rewarding employees to meet the project requirements. Engage and lens module provides sharing feedback, discussions, and surveys on the posts.

Clientele

Huawei, Netgear, Dulux, Freeman, Awin, Outfront, Freeman

Link: https://dsmn8.com/

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PostBeyond

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• Employee Advocacy

PostBeyond is a leading employee advocacy and social selling platform that enables employees to share approved content across their network efficiently and measurable. PostBeyond helps the organization to centralize the contents and allows the employees to access it quickly and share conveniently. With social safeguards, the users can personalize their posts and share them. It also allows third-party integration with analytics tools for more advanced insights.

Clientele

Scotiabank, Randstad, Canada Post, Achievers, Gainsight, Starbucks, Hyland

Link: https://www.postbeyond.com/

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GaggleAMP

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• Employee Advocacy

GaggleAMP is an employee advocacy platform that helps organizations to amplify reach by the passion of their employees. It efficiently allows employees to access the company content and share it socially in their network. It helps in enhancing brand awareness, boost internal communication, and attracts potential talents for the company.

Clientele

SendGrid, Carbon Black, Informatica, Thomson Reuters, Tata Technologies, Mimecast

Link: https://www.gaggleamp.com/

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Bambu by Sprout Social

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• Employee Advocacy

Bambu is another employee advocacy platform developed by Sprout social. It is a platform that allows organizations and their employees to share curated content across all the social media platforms so that the brand's reach is amplified throughout this corporate world. The platform also has the feature on which employees have shared the most number of contents across all the social media platforms. This helps in recognizing and rewarding the best employees.

Clientele

Boostability, CVS Health, Zendesk, westMONROE, Inspire

Link: https://getbambu.com/

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