6 Best Practices for a Successful HR Tech Implementation

Effective employee management was always one of the most critical ways of ensuring the success of one company, especially if the organization in question needs to work with limited assets and relies more heavily on its human resources.

As you can probably guess the strategies we used to meet these important goals have gone through tectonic changes as time and business trends went by. Now, that we have stepped in firmly into the digital age when companies delegate an increasing number of duties to AI, it is only logical that HR is following in the same footsteps.

But, robust tools rarely make a success if they are not implemented in a sensible and effective manner. Let us take a look then at a couple of practices that will help you leverage these current digital trends to refine your HR department.

Leverage hard metrics and analytic tools

Any HR professional needs to tackle numerous metrics that are used to put employees’ skills and work performance into a more tangible framework that can be used to engage in subsequent analytics draw out various conclusions and take necessary actions. Keeping that in mind, we would like to point out that the latest-gen HR tools are not only more capable of performing this type of analytics faster than human employees but also of getting more accurate and actionable results. All these perks should help you navigate through robust data with far less effort and make other HR tasks simpler as well.

Get your employees on board

Any kind of initiative is much easier to see through if all parties involved in the process are equally as engaged and capable of providing sensible contributions. This means that if you are going to start using some new, advanced HR tools or automate the HR process, your subordinates need to be aware of the changes, know what benefits they bring to the table and how can efficiently fit into this new workflow system. The best thing you can do in this regard is to make employees from all company instances a part of the decision-making process from the get-go. Starting some sort of committee should do the job.

Develop a dedicated APP or website

This simple move will provide you with numerous benefits. But, speaking in the simplest of terms, having a dedicated HR app or website streamlines the HR process, gives everyone a unified platform where they can perform their duties in a standardized and repeatable manner, and makes the review of complex data and analytics a matter of clicks. Of course, in order to be able to meet these expectations, the app needs to be created by professional web development services who not only have experience with building apps and websites but also know how to align these platforms with your business goals.

Outline clear goals and strategies

The change is good but it never should be a goal in itself. The same can be said, about introducing a greater level of digital technologies to your HR activities. Implementing these new initiatives just to keep up pace with the rest of the industries and without any clear goal in mind will inevitably produce compromised results and potentially damage the functional system you already have in place. That is why, before making any sort of long-term changes, you first need to examine what problems you want to sort out and use these end goals to reverse-engineer the specific methods you will use to get there.

Think about integration with other applications

The HR department makes an incredibly important facet of any company. But, the work put out in this sector is hardly isolated from other departments and is nowhere near self-sufficient. That is why you should try to think long-term and draw out the map for the digital transformation of the entire business and integration of all these distinct areas under one unified and fully automated workflow. But, in order for this to be possible all of your digital resources need to be designed with the prospect of the eventual future integration in mind – at least if you want to avoid expensive overhauls down the road.

Make transition evolution rather than revolution

Rolling out all initiatives and performing structural changes in one stroke will probably save you some time and probably even resources. But, at the same time, you would be forced to put your operations on hold until the works are over and you will have very little time to re-evaluate if the moves you are taking bearing desirable results. What you should do instead is to take things one step at a time and make sure new HR tools and methodologies are fully integrated and performing in an intended capacity before moving forward. These small changes are much easier to evaluate and, if necessary, roll back.

We hope these few examples gave you a general idea about the strategies you can use to get your HR department on the digital bandwagon and use all the perks of digital tech implementation. And rest assured, the entire business world is undergoing a thorough digital transformation with good reason – a department as critical as human resources can only benefit by joining this digital wave. But, in order to make your efforts fruitful, you need to have a clear goal in mind. The practices above should definitely put you in the right direction.

How HR Teams Can Improve Workplace Safety to Increase Employee Satisfaction

At the core of every good company are the workers which push the progress of your business forward. As an HR team member, it is vitally important to attract new workers to a workplace that is going to ensure their maximum safety as they try to do their best work. Maximizing their safety is essential because this allows for a way more efficient and worry-free work environment and in turn, it drives employee satisfaction and retention. Not only will your workers be more satisfied but you won’t have to constantly worry about nagging workplace safety regulations. Developed countries such as Australia are actively enforcing this on many worksites with comprehensive workplace health and safety (WHS) laws. This is why it is important to respect these laws in order to prevent any possible penalties which not only create a bad image for your investors and employees but also set you back financially which can significantly disrupt your cash flow. Workplace safety has a myriad of great benefits for you and your company’s employees. Here is how you can contribute to workplace safety as an HR member to help increase employee satisfaction. 

Use good equipment

The best solution to any problem is its prevention. Most of the time, work-related injuries and even fatal cases happen because improper equipment was used, or even worse, there was no protective equipment at all. Personal protective equipment (P.P.E) is by far the best way to prevent the most common types of workplace hazards and protect hardworking employees. For instance, professional men’s workwear in Australia is becoming an industry-standard in many different business domains, because truly successful companies understand the value of providing high-quality protective equipment for their employees. That is why more and more companies in this country are supplying their staff with some of the latest P.P.E. An HR can help develop a better understanding of what kind of equipment the staff needs by developing good and open communication with them. This will provide your workers with a positive sense of belonging in a company and will make them feel like their work is even more appreciated and respected. In the long run, this can only increase employee satisfaction and retention. 

Encourage communication
One of the first things to consider when trying to create safer working conditions for your employees is the identification of potential risk factors and hazards. Workplace hazards can stem from various types of sources; mechanical failure, chemical poisoning, unexpected fires and other extremely dangerous elements. This is because most businesses operate using heavy machinery which is extremely dangerous and comes with many risks on its own, let alone in situations where the machine operators are already fatigued. This is where most mechanical issues stem from, to make the matters worse these issues are more likely to happen when the machinery is old and not carefully maintained. On the other hand, chemical hazards are less subtle but equally dangerous, this is because they can come in a multitude of forms. Everything from poisoning and flammable fluids to extremely dangerous gas leakages and highly corrosive fluids is a major risk factor that many employees have to face on a frequent basis. In addition, a potential injury could happen because of faulty electronic equipment. Identifying and understanding the different types of risk factors is the first step toward making a safer workplace.  

Good reputation for everyone

A reputable company is one that is able to provide the safest possible working conditions for its employees. This is because it takes a long time to build a great reputation in the industry and just a second to completely ruin it.  This means that only one workplace accident can cost you and your employees a lot. Bad word travels quickly and if you want to make sure that your employees are well respected in the industry it is crucial to encourage teams to talk about potential issues, whether they are physical or even psychological because they can all contribute to a potential workplace hazard. 

Better finances

One of the easiest ways to lose money as a company is to go through a tedious legal process in case you get sued by your employees. If a member of your company gets hurt, they can legally claim compensation for such an accident. Not only does this immediately hurt your finances and hinder your reputation, but it also makes your company subject to safety inspection which can cause additional problems. That is why, preventing such accidents in the first place is essential. Research has shown, that for every 1$ invested into workplace safety there is a return of 4$. 

Provide proper training

Once you have provided your staff with adequate support in terms of both good HR management practices, good communication and high-quality safety equipment. It is time to enable your workers to become fully self-reliant and more cautious workers by providing proper training for them. 

Improving workplace safety is a serious thing to consider if you want to improve your employee satisfaction. There are a couple of things to consider here; use good equipment, identify potential issues, maintain a good reputation, get a good return on investment from funding safety equipment, and provide proper training for your employees so that they can respond better in case of emergency. 

How Can HR Managers Benefit From Using Data Archiving?

HR managers deal with a lot of confidential and sensitive information. Maintaining the confidentiality of employee data is crucial. Any breach of confidentiality of employee data can result in monetary and lawsuits. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain the confidentiality of employee data.

Data archiving is an effective method to maintain the confidentiality of employee data. It not only safeguards confidential employee data but also enhances the efficiency of HR managers. However, most HR managers are not aware of the benefits of using data archiving.

It is a misconception that data archiving will cost a lot of money. However, in reality, it is a very cost-effective method to maintain the confidentiality of employee data. Moreover, it also helps in increasing the efficiency of HR managers.

Here are 6 benefits of data archiving for HR managers.

1. Data archiving can prevent the loss of confidential employee data

Losing confidential employee data can prove very costly for HR managers in several ways. It can result in costly lawsuits. Moreover, it can also result in the loss of the reputation and goodwill of the organization.

Data loss can occur due to natural disasters or system failures. It can also be a result of human errors such as the accidental deletion of files.

Data archiving can prevent the loss of confidential employee data by preventing any corruption or accidental deletion of confidential data. It prevents the loss of confidential employee data by ensuring its regular backup. Moreover, it also shields confidential employee data from unauthorized users.

2. Data archiving can help HR managers in complying with regulations and compliance standards

HR managers need to comply with many laws and regulations. These include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Family, and Medical Leave Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, etc.

Failure to comply with these laws can cost the company a lot of money. Therefore, it is important that HR managers comply with these laws and regulations.

Data archiving helps HR managers in complying with regulations and compliance standards. This is because data archiving helps HR managers in tracking, auditing, and protecting employee data.

3. Data archiving can help HR managers in tracking employee data

HR managers need to maintain all employee records. These records include correspondence, employee files, employee documents, etc. Maintaining such records manually is quite difficult and can result in the loss of employee data.

Data archiving can help HR managers in tracking employee data. It can help in organizing the records of each employee. Moreover, these records are organized in a systematic manner. Implementing cloud archiving software can help HR managers in tracking employee data in an effective manner.

4. Data archiving can safeguard employee data

Maintaining the confidentiality of employee data is very important. If the confidentiality of employee data is lost, it may lead to the misuse of personal information.

This can prove very costly for both the employee and the organization. . Furthermore, it can also affect the reputation of the company and may even result in lawsuits. 

Data archiving can help HR managers in safeguarding confidential employee data. It can help in restricting access to confidential employee data to authorized users. Moreover, data archiving also helps in tracking the source of any unauthorized access.

5. Data archiving can help HR managers in retrieving employee data quickly

If an employee faces a workplace issue, the concerned HR manager needs to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Therefore, it is important for HR managers to respond quickly to employee issues.

Data archiving can help HR managers in retrieving employee data quickly. Archiving solutions index all the data stored in the database, which makes it easy to retrieve all the data. They also allow advanced search options, which make it easy to search for specific employee data.

6. Data archiving can help HR managers in reducing litigation risks

Lawsuits are very expensive. Therefore, it is important that HR managers reduce litigation risks.

Data archiving helps in the preservation of crucial evidence. This can help in resolving legal issues such as sexual harassment, racial discrimination, etc. Data archiving allows HR managers to keep a record of all employee data, which is required for resolving legal issues.

Moreover, data archiving also helps in resolving compliance issues. It can help in resolving compliance issues by providing reports, audit trails, etc. HR professionals can use this data to eliminate any compliance issues and ensure complete compliance.

Over to you

The benefits of data archiving are tremendous. However, most HR managers are not aware of the benefits of using data archiving.

It can help HR managers in increasing the efficiency of their department. It can also protect confidential employee data. Moreover, it also ensures compliance with privacy laws and regulations. Hence, there is no doubt that HR managers should seriously consider data archiving.

9 Benefits of Using Video for Training and Onboarding

When you think of training and onboarding, what comes to mind? Probably a room full of people sitting at desks or tables. You’re probably right—that’s where most training happens. But with video, you can put the power of learning in the hands of your employees by bringing it to them whenever and wherever they need it. And while traditional training may be effective sometimes, there are plenty of benefits to using video training:

Improved training efficiency

Video is a great way to communicate information because it is more engaging than text. It is also more efficient since the information can be simultaneously delivered to a larger audience. Most especially if you add music to your video, it will be more entertaining and people are likelier to watch it until the end.

Better retention of information

Video is a more engaging way to learn.

Video, when used properly, can be a powerful tool for learning. People are more likely to retain information when they can see it as opposed to just reading it. This is because the brain processes visual and auditory stimuli differently than textual information; in fact, people learn better when they see both images and hear sounds together! Using video in your training program or onboarding process is an effective way to convey complex concepts that might otherwise be difficult for employees on the job. For example: if you’re helping new hires understand how a particular tool works (e.g., time sheets), you can record yourself using that tool so that employees are able to see what steps need to be taken rather than simply reading about them in an email or manual document somewhere on your website/ intranet page(s). 

It’s important to keep in mind that when you’re recording a training video, you should be sure to use clear and concise language so that your employees are able to understand everything that you’re saying. You may also want to consider adding subtitles to your videos so that employees can follow along even if they’re not able to listen to the audio. 

Improved understanding of complex concepts

In this section, we’ll talk about the benefits of using video for training and onboarding.

Video is a better learning tool than text. As a visual medium, video offers learners more information in less time than text alone can deliver. In fact, research shows that people retain 90% of what they see as opposed to 10% of what they read!

Because we’re demanding more from our learners today – requiring them to learn complex concepts and procedures faster than ever before – video offers unique advantages over other types of media such as e-learning or online articles:

• It’s easier to retain information that’s conveyed visually (i.e., via graphics) than it is when presented in words alone
• Visual information engages your audience more deeply and keeps them interested throughout the duration of a session or lesson

Engaged employees are more productive

You know what’s better than an employee who is doing their job? An employee who is also engaged in the company, its goals and its culture.

A recent study by CEB found that employees who are highly engaged are 57% more likely to stay with a company for at least four years. In fact, 71% of managers said they would not have hired someone if they had known that person was disengaged.

Engaged employees are more productive because they feel like their work has meaning and purpose—and it makes them want to do better work! They also recommend their company to others (78% vs. 35%) because they know how great it is to work there—they want others to enjoy working there too!

Increased employee confidence

When an employee has a question, they can see how to do it themselves by replaying the video. This way, they don’t have to sit around and wait for someone else to help them or answer their questions. They’ll be able to see for themselves how something is done, and this gives them more confidence in their own abilities. If you’re working with a large team of people on different tasks, having them all watch a training video together can also be helpful because it creates an environment where everyone is learning from each other at the same time.

The videos are also great for showing new employees what types of tasks need doing on a daily basis so that they feel confident in performing those duties without needing much guidance from others first (and possibly making mistakes). When your company has multiple departments where different workers will interact with each other often throughout their day but aren’t necessarily part of one big group like HR or sales teams would be – having these videos available makes it much easier for managers like myself who spend most days behind my computer screen rather than out meeting face-to-face with coworkers!

A positive employee onboarding experience boosts morale and productivity.

When you have a clear and engaging onboarding video, your new hires will be more motivated to learn about their role at the company, less likely to feel confused or overwhelmed by all the information they’re being given, and much more likely to feel like an essential part of the team. This is all good news for your bottom line! A study by Wrike found that companies who invest in effective employee training see a 20% increase in productivity among new hires during their first 90 days on the job. In addition, they also found that 51% of employees who were trained in their roles said they would stay at their jobs longer than expected—and 48% said it made them happier at work.

Consistent training and messaging for all employees

Video is an excellent way to keep your company’s training clear and consistent. All new employees will receive the exact same information, which helps them understand what they need to do, why they need to do it, and how they should feel about those tasks. This means that your employees will likely fully comprehend the expectations of their position.

Video provides a physical element that other types of training just can’t match. After you watch a video with your supervisor or manager present on how to complete certain tasks at work, it is much easier to imagine yourself completing these tasks than if you were simply reading instructions on paper or viewing them online. In addition, because video gives people more time than text-based methods do which simply click “next slide” or read through one sentence at a time without stopping often enough between slides/sentences – video allows viewers more opportunity for repetition when attempting something new; which helps them remember what they have learned in greater detail later down the line!

Fast, affordable updates to training videos mean you stay compliant with less effort.

Training videos are an effective way to keep training up to date. Video uses motion, sound, and visual storytelling to communicate a lot more information than text-based documents or live training. Because of this, video is much more engaging for learners than reading manuals or attending classes can be. This makes it easier for employees to learn what they need in order for them to perform their jobs well—which means that companies save money by not having to pay someone else (like you) just so they can deliver their message effectively.

Additionally, training videos can be updated without too much effort; they don’t require the time and money needed for live sessions with your employee base. In fact, if an update only requires small changes here or there then video is often faster and less costly than sending everyone into an office full of people who might have conflicting schedules or other commitments that make getting everyone together difficult at best—or impossible at worst!

Employees are empowered to help themselves with on-demand access to popular resources.

When you use video for onboarding, your employees can access the training resources they need in the moment. This means that instead of waiting for a scheduled training class to begin or being told what resources are available, your new employee can simply ask for help or seek out information on their own. They’re empowered to get the answers they need without being held back by time schedules or office location.

Here’s why you should be using video for training and onboarding.

• Video is more memorable than text: People remember 94% of what they see, compared to only 10% of what they hear.
• Video is more engaging than text: Videos are like a window into a person’s life and can be very engaging—if you’re able to create engaging videos.
• Video is more effective than text: 90% of people say that video helped them learn something new in just one minute or less!
• Video is more efficient than text: The average reader needs 25 words per second in order for them to understand the main points being communicated; whereas the average viewer needs 16 words per second! This means that your message will be delivered faster and easier with video content compared to written content such as emails or articles on websites.
• Accessibility on any device — anywhere at any time — has made it easier for us all especially those who may have difficulty reading large amounts of information on a computer screen (elderly).

Conclusion

As we’ve seen, video can help employees learn and retain information more effectively. It also improves their understanding of complex concepts and makes them feel more confident in their work. Video training is more engaging than other kinds of training, so it keeps employees engaged and interested in what they’re learning—which means they won’t tune out or get lost! This will help boost morale and productivity for everyone involved from top to bottom.

Five HR Digital Trends That Are Urging The Evolution Of The Hiring Process

Modern globalization trends, mobility, business going online, high competition, and high speed in the industry require companies to transition to a new networked digital economy. The impending digital revolution certainly requires a revision of the rules of doing business, new management models that provide productivity, innovation, flexibility, and adaptability come into competition. And the foundation for this transition is the transformation of human resources.

Planning a personal career path

In managers, employees of “creative” professions, and all those areas where there is a high share of personal responsibility for decisions, where there is a lot of communication with people, typical career ladders are not enough. HR directors, company leaders, department heads take into account the personal ambitions of employees, their predisposition to certain types of activities, their strengths and weaknesses, and personal goals for the coming years. Based on this, the employee’s career path is built, personal goals are set.

Help-management

The prescriptive setting of goals and requirements is being replaced by facilitation, participation, and assistance. With regard to complex tasks requiring complex knowledge, responsible decisions, coordination of significant resources, help-management is exactly what is needed. The employee is offered assistance to complete the task on time and in the required quality from management and HR. This can be helpful with various resources, training, information, involvement of other team members, etc. So the company simultaneously makes it clear that it shares responsibility for the task with the employee instead of escalating the situation.

Systematic work on the brand of the employer company

Companies invest in their employer brand to retain existing employees and attract new talent with the desired professional experience, values, and personal qualities. In the past, especially for small and medium-sized companies, these efforts were often chaotic, multidirectional. Now we can note a serious shift towards consistency of actions, improving the company’s quality and usefulness about the company, more interactivity is involved.

This aspect is crucial for hiring – young companies whose branding has not yet been formed often experience difficulties finding new employees since there is no information about how the team lives. This is why such companies can partner with an employer of record that will do the hiring for them. 

Increasing the diversity and quality of employee training

Training becomes more targeted: for the development of specific competencies of employees, helping to solve specific commercial tasks of the company. Accordingly, narrower topics are selected, programs with the promise of a specific result. HR directors and HR specialists set more stringent criteria for the selection of agencies, trainers, and consultants. At the same time, they also set the requirements within the company for how employees report on the results of training, and how they apply the acquired skills.

Increased flexibility in organizing personnel management and significant revision of personnel standards

Looking at the same training, more varied formats are used. For example, they combine live activities, online courses, participation in a master group, and solving personal tasks. Flexibility also applies to the definition of working hours and the use of various forms of employment. Outsourcing of directions is still in demand, and freelancers are more actively involved. If this does not harm the business processes of the company, then employees, if desired, are provided with a mobile workplace, the schedule is adjusted.

Companies are changing personnel policies because the previous ones have lost their relevance. The updated policies pay more attention to the translation of the company’s values, a flexible approach to employees, and employee participation in the comprehensive development of the company’s activities. Several requirements, for example, measurable actions and results, are described more specifically, just in the language of numbers.

Stimulating creativity on the part of employees

Typical business models and products are copied very quickly, and it is increasingly difficult to surprise customers. Companies understand the importance of using employees’ potential to generate new ideas for optimizing current activities, for new products, services, etc. HR and directors are becoming more empathetic and attentive to employees, their life and comfort. Comfortable lounge areas are being organized, employees are provided with sports corners, and corporate libraries are being expanded. Companies pay more attention to equipping meeting rooms. By the way, there are more meeting rooms themselves. Some more companies create “zones of silence” – as an option, small offices, where you can work on a task under conditions of excellent sound insulation.

Conclusion

The result is a humane, positive picture. The global, long-term trend of modern HR management is engagement, feedback, understanding, participation, and personalization. Due to these areas, it turns out to form and support a dynamic, developing, and honest team that works for the result.

Future of HR: Tools That Are Making Workplaces More Pleasant

HR (Human Resources) is a vital department in companies and organizations responsible for managing the employees, starting from recruiting, then hiring, onboarding and training, and in the end, firing.

While the HR office manages functions like recruiting and payroll, it is also responsible for creating a positive and pleasant work environment.

Before the pandemic of 2020, people had discussions around questions like:

· Is sitting in the office essential to work better?

· Would it be better if employees worked remotely?

The lockdowns worldwide during pandemics put an end to such questions. It proved companies can survive and thrive by working from home.

HR role has changed

Almost 50% of HR professionals think their role has changed because of the pandemic. The majority of those say their job has become much more challenging. 

HR is now playing a strategic role in dealing with sustainability concerns, and the capital challenges pandemic caused.

Reports claim that 70% of people rank work social relationships as valuable as getting their work done. Working from home minimizes social interactions.

All this leads to problems when sharing information. This is especially hard for the newbies because even the simple question becomes turmoil and creates difficult situations. 

Daily tasks performed by HRs have gone through severe changes. 

HR professionals had to guide their employees through the transition to a digital work environment and to deal with remote teams productivity. To work with remote development teams isn’t just a trend or the ‘future of work.’ It is the present and persistent reality.

HR professionals had to learn new skills and complete tasks they were not prepared to confront. Still, they had to learn how to be more productive and successful while working from home.

Virtual Recruiting

Many companies have already moved to virtual recruiting, but the pandemic forced all the other organizations to make this transition as fast as they could. 

HR teams now manage the whole recruitment process from planning to selecting and hiring in a virtual environment.

Candidate experience has a significant influence on satisfaction and employer branding. Candidates who had a pleasant experience with a particular organization accept a job offer and refer others to your company.

Managing Remote Teams

Managing remote teams is a task many HR teams weren’t prepared for at the beginning of the pandemic, but that is exactly what happened to most of them. They had to learn how to manage remote teams when the support systems and the infrastructure weren’t there to support a smooth transition. 

So to manage remote teams effectively, HR needs to:

· Put employee well-being in the first place.

· Reward people from the team.

· Balance visibility and flexibility.

· Stay connected.

· Create a happier workplace.

The happier employee is a better employee

Numerous research studies made the connection between employee happiness, engagement, and performance. How HR teams can make the best of the worst times is the right question.  

The happier employee is more engaged. An engaged employee shows increased productivity and a lower rate of absenteeism from work.

A healthy work environment is what matters. A positive work culture improves personal well-being, encourages employee friendships. It also expands employee skills and resources through enhanced relationships with coworkers, increasing worker problem-solving abilities and creativity.

A sense of community at work is one of the most important things. Feeling that their fellow managers care about them helps employees be more resilient when facing challenges and stressful situations —both in their personal lives and at work.

A happy employee is less stressed. High stress leads to physiological and emotional problems that will probably result in higher employee absenteeism. 

L&D leads to better employee engagement

If an employee has a sense of purpose at the job, he may experience a positive presence in the workplace every day.

The responsibility of HR is to create compelling role descriptions, which tell the employee what and why they are doing and how these roles fit into the organization’s overall plan. L&D also leads to better employee engagement.

What is L&D?

Have you heard of L&D before? L&D means learning and development and is a work process that develops employees’ skills to benefit both the company they work for and the individual.

The benefits of L&D are talent retention and attraction, improved employee performance, and higher employee engagement.

Upskilling your employees to meet your business’s demands and fill skills gaps can have an impact in other ways. Learning and development also position people to find out the latest in their fields, what’s trending, and how they can level up in their role to help move the business forward.

Organizations that focus on L&D can make an essential step in supporting company growth and higher employee engagement at the same time. According to a study, 80 percent of employees said that learning and development opportunities helped them feel more engaged at the workplace.

Video calling apps for more accessible communication

If you have a team you work with, you’ll probably need a video calling app, the one that will connect you all.

We have all heard of Zoom. Although it was launched in 2013, it has reached its peak during the pandemic, with around 300 million daily users. 

Zoom is easy to use – all you need to do is download the Zoom installer and start the app. Anyone can join in the call with a single link, and you don’t have to create an account. As a platform, Zoom is supporting up to 1000 participants. 

Google Hangouts is a communication app that allows you to start free video calls, send messages and join a conversation with a person or a group.

Google Hangouts requires a Google email address and a smart device to be used.

Google hangouts can include all your contacts with group chats – up to 150 people. It can also turn any group conversation into a video call – up to 10 people.

Chanty – its free version lets you have 1-on-1 audio calls, and group audio and video calls are also available in the business plan. 

Chanty is supporting up to 30 participants on the group video call. It is also possible to do screen sharing while presenting. In addition, all files and messages are saved in the chat, and you can always come back to them.

Chanty is a powerful alternative to Slack and other collaboration platforms. 

A platform for better managing mentorship programs

Have you already heard of Together Platform? It is a tool for enterprises to manage employee mentoring programs. With Together platform, you will be able to: 

• Make the program your own.
• Customize skills and goals relevant to your program. 
• White-label & brand your program.
• Write your content, or rewrite it from scratch.
• Watch your registrations roll in.
• Analyze your registration process.
• Send emails with the invitations tool.
• Set a deadline.

Explain complicated topics in seconds

Instead of spending too much time on chat and email, try to send instant screenshots and video messages with ScreenRec. You will save precious hours and get your point across faster.

ScreenRec is an excellent solution for developers, sales, designers, customer support, onboarding, business communication.

This is a fantastic way to explain complicated topics in seconds instead of losing hours. All you have to do is to capture your desktop and send the shareable link. Visuals are making messages more clear, and people better follow visual instructions to plain text.

By avoiding interruptions, team members can review messages you sent in their own time.

All-In-One tool for HR

Document management, employee onboarding, performance tracking, and more are all within ClickUp. This is an all-in-one tool for HR. You can build templates with employee requirements and individualized tasks to streamline training.

Using ClickUp, HR can create a centralized collection of company documents from handbooks to new remote working policies.

HR documentation software

The best way to transform HR teams to manage crucial documents is by using HR documentation software. With ProProfs, HR can search for information right away and track employees’ data from their day of joining. HR operations will become more simple when keeping documents well-organized, sorting and reviewing data. 

This is a great tool for HR to provide instant access to information and improve their productivity.

Future of HR

HR will have to find ways to support their business leaders in restructuring during and after the pandemic.

HR will use artificial intelligence to recruit employees. Recruiters will implement AI to examine the voice and facial expressions of the applicant in more than a hundred different parameters. Businesses are looking to adopt flexible working arrangements, so re-establishing organizational culture is becoming a top priority for HR teams.HR will have to evolve across each element of the HR lifecycle to meet a new set of company’s and employee’s needs.

Benefits of Using Videos for Training and Onboarding

Today’s hiring climate is more than competitive, so creating an attractive training and development program in your company can set you apart from the competition. Training and development are crucial for hiring, but that’s not all—they are great for retention and improvement of your profit. Developing employees is one of the executive team’s top priorities, yet learning and development professionals are constantly facing budget issues and the lack of staff. So for the L&D professionals and HR experts to demonstrate business impact, train employees and welcome them to the company successfully, they are using videos. 

Training videos are a great way to develop any team, and here are just some of the reasons you need to use them to train and onboard your employees. 

They provide flexibility

It’s easy to customize your training video so it fits your company culture and training program. It’s flexible when it comes to concepts it can present, so no matter if you’re teaching the basics of using a program or welcoming your latest employees, a training video can help. 

Video is a medium that can also accommodate various types of learners—some people are readers, some listeners and some visual learners. The video blends all of these learning styles and provides a smooth learning experience for every employee. 

They can be interactive

Interactive videos are really popular today, with the number of marketers and instructors using them rising every day. The interactive option is perfect for training and onboarding because it can be tailored to the individual watcher. For instance, senior managers don’t have to watch the same training as interns. 

They boost retention

Since you already have to invest money and time into training and onboarding, you want your team to actually learn something from the material you provide. Unfortunately, according to research, most employees forget over 60% of the training material after just a week. However, when we’re talking about video training, retention increases. Video is proven to be easier to retain than any other material. People tend to remember 20% of reading materials and almost 80% of visual material, so the difference is significant. 

It’s more engaging

Once upon a time, the video was used primarily as an entertainment tool, and was soon accused of killing radio and newspaper. Many people don’t understand why would anyone read a book when they can watch a movie. For average people, videos are more engaging, and according to research by Forrester, employees feel better after watching a video than reading articles and emails. So, simply put, if you want to have teams that enjoy their training, you must make sure it’s engaging like videos. Besides providing better retention, videos are more attractive and fun. 

They are cost and time effective

Money and time are two of the most important factors for most companies, and training videos can save both. Instructor-based training takes time, money and resource, most of which are spent on travel instead of training. On the other hand, video training doesn’t require extra costs of instructors, only a venue where the employees can watch and listen to the footage. Video training only requires a one-time expense required to create your video and you can use it for many years. In some cases, you don’t even require this initial expense thanks to easy access to the online video editor for free that allows you to create HD videos free of charge. They also provide users with filters, tools, effects, templates and stickers for the ultimate experience. 

It’s easy to measure

With written training and onboarding materials, there’s no way to be sure that your staff read them or studied them carefully. On the other hand, video is easy to track and measure because through your video hosting provider, you can access various metrics like the number of views, addresses and whether or not a particular user watched the video from start to finish. 

It does not discriminate

If you decide to hold classroom training, no two groups will have the same experience. The team having their training on Monday might be too sleepy to focus, the Tuesday team might include the office clown who distracts everyone, Wednesday might have a different coach, and Friday might be too occupied by the thoughts of the weekend—the list of different circumstances is practically endless. If you want to ensure everyone gets the same training (or as close as possible to that), video training will come to your rescue. It will cover all training points, development topics and onboarding practices, in the same way, every time. 

They are always available

Training videos can be accessed by your employees anytime and anywhere, it just depends on the content, your storage abilities and distribution strategy. When your staff can’t rely on help from colleagues and managers, they can return to their training video and solve the issue. And many times, people feel more comfortable consulting a video than ask someone else for help, so this might minimize mistakes and idle time in employees. 

They are easy to share

Videos are both easy to deliver and share. In case that the video is engaging, fun and full of useful information, employees will gladly share them with colleagues and friends, and your videos might reach people outside of your company. So they will not only help your employees, but also other people, and provide you with free marketing. 

These are just some of the reasons why you might consider creating training and onboarding videos for your company. If better retention and job satisfaction don’t spark your interest, money and time savings will—the benefits are countless.

Tech-Savvy Hiring for a Remote World

There’s no denying the business world is going remote.

Over time, advancements in technology have grown to such an extent that the need to drive back and forth from an office is quickly becoming a thing of the past. In fact, some reports state that 70% of people around the world work from home at least one day per week.

Luckily, this revolution has provided human resource teams with a slew of new tools that make acquiring the best remote talent easier than ever. Video software, translation services, and applicant tracking systems are all helping companies around the world find the top talent, and the businesses that utilize them the best may come out ahead.

Preparing Your Business for Remote Work

Introducing remote employees into your company is not a process that can be taken lightly. Before you even begin to think about your staffing needs, you first need to ensure that your current systems are properly designed for remote work. It can be quite an undertaking, which can be made easier with professional user testing.

The process usually involves hiring a firm to find individuals with testing experience who will sign onto your systems and perform tasks and tests that you request. One of the most significant advantages of remote user testing is that you can use either local testers or individuals from around the globe. This independent testing will mimic the work environment of your future remote employees and give you validation that your systems are working correctly. Remote testing is also less time consuming, as you are not wasting resources by bringing individuals into your office.

In most cases, HR won’t be able to see the remote tester actually working through the tasks live and will instead get a recording at the end along with any follow up questions. Once findings are recorded and tweaks are made, a second round of testers should come in to ensure that all systems are ready to go. Testing should also be completed down the road as system updates are implemented.

Applicant Tracking Systems

Once your remote operations are up and running, it is time to find your employees. The first step of that process includes sending out a job listing and then receiving applications. When you open the flood gates and hundreds of resumes come flowing in, organization is key. This is where applicant tracking systems can save the day.

When applicants send in their resumes, the tracking system files and sorts the applications in order to present them to HR and the hiring manager in an orderly fashion. The manager can then use the system throughout the rest of the hiring process to set up phone interviews, collect background information, and send out final hiring paperwork.

As technology advances, so do the tracking systems, and current models can compile the resumes as well as “read” and rate them based on how well they match the job description. The significant benefit of using these systems is that they cut down on administrative tasks, and the quicker you can get your remote candidate through the process, the less likely they are to look elsewhere and opt for a different job. If you are looking to expand your remote operations over time, then you want to cultivate this positive candidate experience to create good word of mouth and avoid future turnover.

Advancements in Video Interviews

With the proper candidates selected, the selection process then moves onto the interview phase, and if you are looking outside of the local area, then in-person interviews may not be feasible. Luckily, advancements in video technology are making the process easier and as seamless as if the individual were sitting in the same room. One current trend is providing potential first-round candidates with a “one-way” interview where questions are supplied, and the applicant can answer them via video on their own time. This way, the candidates can feel less nervous and more natural, so that HR can get a better idea of their personality before the face-to-face video interview.

As time goes on, more advanced video interviewing software is coming into the limelight. Video packages, such as that developed by MyInterview, allow you to not only talk to the candidate live, but the software also uses machine learning to analyze the applicant’s answers for professionalism and reasoning skills. Another advanced program is VidCruiter, which offers a suite of tools, including a system that ranks candidates based on qualifications and intuitive filters that specify the candidates that you should interview first.

When reaching out to candidates on an international level, it is important to find the best candidates while keeping expenses in check. There are also potential language barriers to overcome. Calling the applicant with the help of an over-the-phone interpreter could help you to fill in the blanks. The last thing you want to do is miss out on a great employee simply because you can’t communicate properly.

The remote landscape is growing at a steady pace, and if employers want to stay ahead of the pack, they must utilize these remote hiring tools.

Image Source: Pexels

How to Fast Forward your Employee’s Career

Your employees’ professional growth doesn’t happen overnight. Developing people’s skills needs investment of thought, time and love in order to create meaningful change. Ideally a manager becomes a mentor. They provide guidance and coaching to evolve employee skill-sets, knowledge and confidence. With managers acting as the catalyst for progression, we’ve pinpointed five ways to effectively advance your employee’s career path.

Align your business goals

When you’re working closely with your employees, don’t forget to feed back the “bigger picture” to them. You can coach people in leadership qualities all day long but it’s pointless if you’re not communicating why. Employees motivation to excel can diminish if they don’t feel valued or believe they can create an impact for the company. Realistically, how empowered would your employees feel if they’re given the freedom to make smart, informed decisions however they still need to run their ideas by you before making moves? Communicate the objectives and company goals before anything else, and provide freedom for them to actually reach these.

Create a career development plan

Having conversations around career progressions is the first step in gauging employee development, but it’s important to follow up with implementing achievable objectives. This encourages employees to formulate their goals so they can actively execute them. Create a space where you can collaborate openly on short-term and long-term career goals and most importantly how these can be achieved. If you’re not sure where role progression can evolve, check out Search Party’s Career Path Tool to see all possible options.

Articulate expectations

Objectives and Key Results (OKR) is a popular technique to setting and communicating goals and results in organisations. The main purpose for OKRs is to connect the company, team and individual’s personal objectives to measurable results, ensuring everyone is moving in the right direction. The structure is fairly straightforward.

• Define 3-5 key objectives on company, team or personal levels. These must be qualitative, ambitious and time bound.
• Under each objective, define 3-4 measurable results based on growth performance, revenue or engagement.

When OKRs are a place and remain transparent across all teams, employees have complete clarity of knowing what’s expected of them and have something to work towards. Defining these can take into account career progressions or onboarding new responsibilities or projects and when you’re able to measure you’re also able to mentor. No wonder OKR’s are loved by tech giants like Google, Twitter, and Oracle. It’s a proven process that genuinely works.

Actively identify new opportunities within the organisation

When employees begin to seek new experiences or want to build their portfolio of skill-sets, 9 times out of 10 they’ll leave their current organisation rather than take on a new role in a different area within their current company. And it’s no surprise that losing talent and re-training new starters is timely and costly for managers. However this behaviour can be avoided if there is real encouragement and facilitation of internal transfers. Speak with the individual about what skills they would like to gain or areas they wish to excel in and then identify all possible new opportunities and paths they can explore within the organisation. Mentors are those who can look beyond their own areas or personal needs for growth opportunities, even if it means they’re losing a great asset.

Encourage developmental assignments

Developmental assignments come from the opportunity to initiate something new that an employee takes the majority of the reigns with. Internal projects, new product lines or championing a change such as adopting new technology or a restructure in workflows are all great ways to allow employees to step outside of their comfort zones. These kind of initiatives are the gateway into harbouring new skill-sets and embracing areas not usual to their daily tasks. Enabling employees to lead or manage side projects or totally new initiatives are the stepping stones into project management fields and opens a huge number of doors into other leadership roles.

Although most CEOs understand the importance of employee development, the sad truth is that they don’t devote the necessary time into excelling them into greater things. But the proof really is in the pudding. The more effort you put into developing employees, the higher the employee retention, productivity, engagement, turnover…the list goes on!

If you’re unsure as to where career progression can take you or your employees, Search Party have developed a nifty Career Path Tool. Simply type in your current role, and see how careers of people who’ve been in your shoes developed. Or, type in your dream job and see which paths can take you there. Check it out and let us know what you think!

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Originally published by Search Party on 29 August 2016.

Top 5 Recruitment Software Statistics

Discover the proven research-based benefits of using a modern recruitment software!

Are you using a recruitment software?

Using a recruitment software has many benefits. Some of the most commonly cited are the following:

• Increased efficiency
• Time saving
• Cost saving
• Improved reporting
• Higher quality of hire
• Reduced IT department’s  involvement
• Reduced marketing department’s involvement.

In short, a recruitment software should help you find the best hires, in the shortest amount of time, for the least amount of money. It will also enable you to own the whole recruiting process, without depending on your marketing and IT department.

It sounds perfect, right? But is it really like that in practice? Let’s take a look at the data and find out!

Recruitment software statistics you need to know

Here is a list of the top 5 proven, research-based recruitment software statistics you need to know:

Statistic #1: A majority of companies use an applicant tracking system (ATS)

A research Capterra conducted has shown that:

• 75% of recruiters use a recruiting or applicant tracking software.

Statistic #2: Almost all best-in class companies use a recruitment software

According to finding from Jobscan’s research:

• Over 98% of fortune 500 companies use a recruitment software

Statistic #3: Using a recruitment software has positive impact on hiring

According to Capterra’s research:

• 94% of recruiters and hiring professionals say their using a recruitment software has positively impacted their hiring process.

Statistic #4: Recruitment software improves time to hire

GettApp’s research has found that:

• 86% of recruiting professionals say that using a recruitment software has helped them hire faster.

Statistic #5: Recruitment software improves the quality of hire

GettApp’s research findings show that:

• 78% of recruiters say that using an ATS has improved the quality of candidates they hire.

Looking for a better recruitment software?

A great recruitment software will help you achieve your recruitment goals and turn your everyday problems into opportunities. If your current recruitment software isn’t doing its job, you should think about finding the one that will.

In our guide “How to Evaluate and Choose the Best Recruiting Tool” you’ll learn exactly how to compare, evaluate and choose the best recruiting tool that will perfectly fit your hiring needs and your budget.