With the rise and spread of the novel Corona Virus, the globe faced an economic decline. The aftershock of the pandemic is still in action as many organizations and businesses are cutting down costs to stay afloat. Therefore downsizing and scrapping projects is an executive decision business leaders often tend to make, this does come at the price of discarding potentially valuable ideas to cut costs. 

Though straight up removing an idea or ongoing project may reduce costs initially, it often scraps investment of both time and money with it. Instead of eradicating a running program, a wiser option would be to optimize your budget according to your expenditure and cost. The goal is to ultimately find balance in the books and maintain the business growth, by taking the cost optimization route this is easily achieved without altering any long-term business plans.

Working around your finances and optimizing your costs can be achieved in a variety of ways, here you can follow 5 effective strategies to get you on your way. 

 

Aligning Short Term Business with Long Term Value:

Alongside the global shift, business models have also kept up with the times, and working remotely is the new norm. Therefore organizations that successfully adapted to this transition have handled the market pressure with ease, this short-term shift is the result of a few things. Functioning as a digital yet functional team, which means hiring mixed personals in each department to accommodate wage bill leniency. Full-time and Part-time employees will not only maximize the output required but sufficiently reduce salary costs, the same can be said about one-off contracts with freelancers which can be tied into planned or running projects. This creates an adaptive workforce and maximizes the division of work upheld by an employee.

Re-work remuneration and benefits:

Hard-workers and deserving employees should always be presented with bonuses and benefits which is a reflection of their commitment, that said, creating a complex compensation or incentive plan may help the cost-cutting cause. A model built around employee tracking and work metrics would be the ideal yet flexible cost optimization technique. The correct performance and data analysis of employees, in line with a refined compensation plan, will help evaluate the deserving candidates efficiently, which works entirely off of the return on investment concept.

Redefine Processes for efficient and effective service delivery:

For an efficient and effective system to be laid out, most if not all kinks need to be ironed out to ensure consistent performance. In terms of direct business, whatever metric gets measured is the one that gets managed. Therefore successful businesses will opt to test their HR departments’ procedures to eradicate performance loss and overall financial waste. Responsibilities to ensure SOP’s and system rules are divided along the hierarchy from the

Stakeholders and Managers to the bottom level employees. Similarly, input from the users and customers brings a new field of view to be worked on.

Re-examine Cost Optimization within HR Service Delivery Systems: 

Organizations existing on an expired or old model may be experiencing success, however new room for growth amongst shared HR service models is minimal which reduces areas to optimize cost savings. Having a standard and consistent system not only simplifies the tangle of commands but rather opens up an opportunity for cost-effective techniques as well. A key example would be the recruiting process, where each organization tweaks the set standard to accommodate hiring employees by their needs, however, this constant updating and tweaking lengthens the process revealing a completely different sub-process as a result. A solution would be to unite similar processes which can be utilized to create an efficient and set model for Service Delivery.

Review HR Technology:

As teams and organizations expand so do their HR systems. The sheer burden and size of ever-growing HR needs are met by HR technology which simplifies the processes to improve efficiency and performance. However such systems come at high or unconventional pricing schemes which may not cater to all business models. Monitoring the effectiveness of the system in place is vital for HR leaders to understand and pick out. Underutilized systems or add-ons should be removed to boost the cost optimization and invest the sum in other departments which are ensured to thrive.

Boosting employee engagement and running advanced HR systems with the help of advanced digital tools and a cost-optimized payment plan such as the complete HR management of PeopleSonic is the modern way to go! Such software allows you to work with your employees and focus more on their engagement and productivity whereas the automated functionality does the rest for you. Keeping employees engaged with an online learning curve will not only help the development of related skills but ease their workload, which are all signs of a healthy workspace and engaged employee!

It is no secret that the advancement of technology in this era has boosted productivity, efficiency, and engagement to new heights. By gradually integrating technology and future advancements into our workflow, our growth in almost every sector has grown exponentially and cut down time consumption drastically. 

With the help of technology at our disposal, communication and management as a whole has been highly productive. Employees are able to attend online meetings, access various tools, digitize their data, and have a seamless connection to their work irrespective of their location. The automation of most tasks has therefore decreased the burden on employees’ shoulders while enabling them to work sufficiently by putting out maximum efficiency which directly allows a business to compete at a greater scale.

With the current pandemic situation around the globe, more emphasis has been put on remote and digital work. Thankfully with the current advancement of technology we are able to compute our workstreams rather efficiently from home. Therefore a business that lacks the available technology or hasn’t transitioned in time may struggle during this period.

Similarly, employees which lack the understanding or are intimidated by this transition may prove to a liability than a worthy asset to an organization, therefore enabling them to open up to the digital world will not only be useful for a company’s growth rather the growth of an individual as well! Here are 4 ways you can gear your employees towards technology.

 

Create an Adaptive environment:

As with the current change in the workplace environment, creating an immersive experience online may be tricky especially if the employee base isn’t tech-savvy or prefers to work without much influence of technology. Therefore building around the emphasis of transitioning to the modern work methodology is key to revitalizing your business during this period.

It is important that leaders and the management not only convey this effectively but create a culture that plants the seed for a progressive and adaptive environment. Being able to switch and adapt to new ways is an essential part of the modern world, as employees are required to be versatile to match the demands set by society.

Therefore creating a base or platform where employees can build their flow towards technology and be less intimidated by its usage should be implemented, technology should be perceived as a tool rather than an option. With decent exposure, the heads will surely turn in favor of technology 

 

Present functional and user-friendly technology:

As mentioned in the previous pointer, opening up and presenting the usefulness of the available technological tools will help employees engage. Showcasing the benefits and total outcomes will provide them with a cushion to work with more freedom as well as ease. Opting to adopt user-friendly software etc will help the employees visually feel focused rather than having software that is clustered with information and analytics, keeping it simple is the definite way to go. Presenting technology that is a hassle to use or provides a broad learning curve will intimidate the users and may even be met with resistance on their part. Employers must therefore be careful to not introduce such technology into the workstream as this will create a feeling of discomfort amongst the employees and later be pinned back at the business.

Introducing new technologies should never be barred, but carefully picking which ones actually serve a purpose and provide the necessary tools for the team should be chosen. This selection process will remove any kinks and streamline the functionality and purpose of using such technology in the office.

 

Smooth Transition:

From an employer’s point of view, pushing their workforce to adopt a new piece of technology is not only a bad moral decision but a terrible business one as well. Putting anyone in an uncomfortable environment will create unease and may stunt their performance, therefore offering a complete course on the new technology being introduced as well as constant support to adapt to something new is the go-to method.

This also carries forward onto how the employees are approached during their training period, as a team consists of different mindsets and abilities providing a single solution to encapsulate each individual is not possible. Providing levels to their training will help distinguish which employees may need more help during the transition whereas others may be capable enough to adapt sooner. Tech-savvy employees may grasp the new technology based on a few online sessions/tutorials, but the same cannot be said for others. Providing a hands-on approach may be the solution in that case.

As a chain is as strong as its weakest link, ironing out the kinks by implementing a smooth transition period during a shift of technology will make the employees feel confident and in return reap a higher performance output for the company.

 

Implement technology in a beneficial manner or with an incentive:

The current economic standards of an average company may not be suited for direct incentives for adopting new technologies, however, incentivizing or providing a monetary reward for their hard work shouldn’t be eradicated completely.

Providing monetary rewards isn’t the only tactic you may use to engage your employees, creating a positive and supportive work culture may just be what you need. Providing a sense of accomplishment with positive feedback and a firm pat on the back shows the employee his work did not go unnoticed and motivates the others to work towards the same achievement. Recognition for similar abilities may seem like a small step but provided with collective appreciation, can bring a vast change. The newly implemented technology will also provide employees the opportunity to enhance their skillset and polish their abilities, which could further develop them into a higher role provided they keep it consistent. Indirectly proving to be a positive and effective method.

Boosting employee engagement with the help of advanced digital tools such as the complete HR management of PeopleSonic is the modern way to go! Such software allows you to work with your employees and focus more on their engagement and productivity whereas the automated functionality does the rest for you. Keeping employees engaged with an online learning curve will not only help the development of related skills but ease their workload, which are all signs of a healthy workspace and engaged employee!

There’s nothing more satisfying than a hardworking team working efficiently as a system to get the best results. However, if anyone’s gear let alone multiple ones fail to work, the system is bound to breakdown and hinder the results drastically.

This simple analogy can be placed into the real world, where managers deal with such a debacle with their employees. Everyone wants the best work done in the shortest amount of time to boost performance, yet getting that level of commitment from your employees requires work in itself.

It is no surprise that organizations would suffer a decrease in revenue especially when they aren’t getting the most out of their employees, if not anything at all. Engaged employees who are determined to pull their weight and put in the required effort, form an innovative team with like-minded. Such are the candidates each company strives to hire or look for.

Instead of searching for the select percentage of individuals, forming and adopting new strategies to boost your employee engagement might just be what you need! These pointers will not only help engage your workers but create an environment that allows for healthy and sustained growth for all those involved.

 

Incentives and Salary Slip: When it comes to employees the main put off from work or engagement is primarily due to financial stress. Any individual at any position would disengage from their work if they were underpaid or not appreciated for it. So a simple solution would be for managers to compensate the employees to eradicates such stress and related issues. Keeping bonuses and incentives in play could also take an edge off work and promote some healthy competition to boost workspace engagement. A few factors to maintain the desired engagement are as follows:

– Keep the salary in check with the market or keep it higher. Reviewing such changes regularly is the way to go.

– Optimize transfers and processing, for prompt salary payments without delay.

– As mentioned earlier, introduce bonuses/incentives/commissions where applicable.

– Oversee leave requests in a lenient and immediate manner.

 

Recruitment Choices: As a manager, always aim to hire the right person for the position. If not evaluated effectively this may prove to be dead weight to your company’s goals. Candidate evaluation should be taken on directly by the manager, opting to align the soft and hard skills of the recruitment to the environment your company has in place. Interviews are a key essence of the recruitment process and should be well thought out with the organization’s mentality, environment, and goals in check. As the rise of the digital era continues, shifting this traditional process to a modern one is past due. Here are the benefits you may reap from going digital with the process:

– Organising and scheduling interviews in an automated fashion.

– Assessing the candidate’s cultural fit based on behavioral interviews.

– Narrowing down the target candidate with target pools selected off various regions.

– Focusing more on the interview without the hassle of manual processing.

– Generating reports and analytics to assess the suitability of the candidates and isolate the required ones.

 

Build a relationship with your employees: Now that you’ve potentially hired a new candidate, maintaining his/her expectation as well as engagement is key. During the starting period of a new hire, it is then when an employee is most vulnerable to quit. This may be associated with being undervalued, overwhelmed, underpaid, overworked, or just confused with their position. With some care and motivation, converting new hires into loyal workers is an achievable goal, aside from some motivation and support here’s how you can build a better relationship:

– Constant support and tips/tricks regarding their work. Periodic training sessions will help them engage with the work and themselves much more effectively.

– Detailed brief regarding the job description and requirements.

– Team building sessions or group work to boost engagement amongst employees.

– Casual meetings with managers and supervisors to receive feedback on their progress.

 

 

Motivate workers and develop new skillsets: Employees always seek to increase their repertoire of skills and develop their role in an organization. If such advancements aren’t present or underappreciated it is common for employees to lose interest and ultimately seek other job options. Similarly, much-required feedback from the managers is key for the growth of employees. Appreciating them for their hard work and effort goes a long way, providing critical feedback does a similar service but with a positive and reassuring tone. Other options to increase employee satisfaction levels include:

– Provide training and development material such as workshops, courses, or even access to online tools.

– Help improve their hard and soft skills alike.

– Motivate ambitious employees by helping them transition into a profound management role. This succession planning helps you identify and train people to carry on the company growth, so pass the baton on!

– Value your employees by giving feedback on their work or general character traits to boost their mood and optimize their day. 

 

Healthy work culture/environment: An environment speaks volumes regarding the people that are found in it. If your company looks over such a key aspect you’d want to revise your ambiance better suited to productivity. Stressful work environments prove to be a stress hub which further leads to health issues and burnout in employees. Hurdles you’d want to jump over are:

– Solid work schedules and no flexibility.

– Long working hours with overtime.

– Negativity of all kinds in the workspace. A safe environment will keep everyone at peace of mind.

– Unsupportive and ignorant supervisors. Caring and valuing your employees is necessary for their growth. Listening to their concerns and feedback may help you grow as a manager and work to improve on their potential requests.

Boosting employee engagement with the help of advanced digital tools such as the complete HR management of PeopleSonic is the modern way to go! Such software allows you to work with your employees and focus more on their engagement and productivity whereas the automated functionality does the rest for you. Keeping employees engaged with an online learning curve will not only help the development of related skills but ease their workload, which are all signs of a healthy workspace and engaged employee.

Employee Self Service or ESS for short is a feature integrated into all modern HR software. ESS allows access to a string of data regarding HR, personal data, and such related information. The key highlight of ESS is in its name, Employee Self Service, the data which would otherwise need an HR representative to maintain, is now in the hands of each employee, at least their own data due to obvious privacy concerns. This simple yet highly effective move saves on precious resources such as time and money. Some companies are heavily invested in the idea whereas some may not prefer it due to the size and nature of their own. 

ESS is not only for employees but for the management as well, as MSS or Management Self Service is often linked and incorporated within the ESS. This often refers to Managers overlooking and aiding employee matters that were needed, but more importantly, having an administrator to handle any situation. The link between the hierarchy is, therefore, kept intact much like the integration between the ESS and your HR software.

It is already integrated into the HR systems and requires no extra fiddling around on the back-end. Usually, such self-service portals are under the HR department’s supervision but for greater efficiency, personal log-ins are assigned to the employees. Still, seem a little unconvincing to you? The following host of features will surely provide the clarity and knowledge you need.

 

Features of ESS

• Personal Info: ESS will allow employees to update their info and personal details by themselves, cutting out the middle-man (HR). This allows for a more streamlined process and prevents long application submission and updating.
• Leaves: Here the employees will have complete access to their current leave situation whether it be related to leave balance or requesting for leaves.
• Programs: Direct log-ins will allow open-access to enroll in benefits programs or other similar schemes.
  
• Policies/Rules: As policies and rules are often updates, sometimes they may go under the radar of most employees. With ESS a few clicks will get the relevant policies up on your screen.
  
• Payroll: Financing is a particular field, especially when payroll is involved. With self-servicing, Employees will have complete access to previous salary slips, pay cut information, taxes, time-logs, reimbursements, and all relevant data associated with their payroll in general.
  
• HR reports: Such analytics will provide the users more clarity in terms of KPI’s and set goals in comparison to their performances during a defined period. This also helps the HR department as a whole.

 

Benefits of ESS

• Engagement: The ESS tool is great for boosting employee engagement and have them update each detail when required. It acts as a new medium to engage in the existing HR software.
  
• Greater Efficiency: As each employee is responsible for their own data, this speeds up the process by a large margin and even decreases the chance of mistakes within the details.
  
• Autonomy: The integrated bit of software from the central management access point allows for the employee to access and edit their data whenever needed without hesitation.
  
• Ease of burden: The introduction of ESS into an office ecosystem drastically eases the load on the HR department which would manually have to amend any changes requested. Not to mention the processing time it may take to achieve a minor task. HR and Managers do however still have all the admin rights to oversee the changes in order to administer effectively.
  
• Easy access: Since the system is entirely digital, it acts as the perfect medium for dispersed teams or even when on the go. This saves time on having to reach out to the HR team which may be located in a foreign place.
  
• Green/Environmentally friendly: An alternative bonus of ESS is the sheer amount of paper being saved. As such office work requires a series of documentation and updates. The system saves a lot of paper while preventing excessive waste.

 

Is there a catch?

ESS is no doubt a valuable addition to any organization’s arsenal and boasts a series of benefits along with features as mentioned. However, a major drawback would be for each employee to familiarize themselves with the software, as understanding is key for the implementation to be successful. This may lead to communication gaps, incorrect data, and a learning curve from manual to the digital entry system.

If your company is already using an integrated HR Management Software such as PeopleSonic, this won’t be an issue as the interface is very similar to the rest and can easily be adopted into the workflow. As the ESS integration goes hand in hand with HR software, opting for solid HR Management Software shouldn’t be overlooked!

 

 

While the long-lasting economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic won’t be fully understood for years to come, in the short-term it has required all industries to rethink their approach to work. SOPs have been implemented for the service and manufacturing industries, where human presence is necessary to function, and businesses and organizations have had to reckon with implementing a hybrid or fully work-from-home model to control the spread of the disease.

For any business that’s able to move to such a model, one of the biggest concerns is transitioning the concept of the “workplace” and “workforce”, two aspects that are the domain of the on-site HR. With the transition to work from home and hybrid teams, your approach to HR needs to transition and evolve as well, to make the most out of this ‘new normal’ workplace. That’s where technology comes in: A managed HR software is the best solution for your human resources to champion hybrid work and will end up being cost and labour-effective even if we as a society return to the pre-pandemic work model.

Let’s look at how an integrated software solution to HR can help successfully manage a hybrid workforce.

Automate Core HR Tasks

The daily workload of any HR team involves a lot of document and personnel data management, tasks that usually involve handling a lot of paperwork and communication with employees. The advent of managed HR solutions allows HR to go paperless and minimize unnecessary processes to complete those core tasks. A good software solution will let HR digitize and automate work such as employee role definitions, personnel data management, while offloading manual communications to self-service dashboards that are not only more efficient, but thorough.

Accelerate Payroll

With the pandemic causing undue financial stresses and instability among people, having a long, drawn-out (and manual!) payroll process will likely add to those concerns, with the high possibility of impacting employee morale and motivation. That’s where you as a business can step in and alleviate those worries. An automated payroll management system, part of an integrated, end-to-end HR solution can reduce payroll processing time from days to minutes and eliminate any human errors and delays that can naturally occur during the course of manual processing.

Not only does that remove excess burden from your HR during the critical monthly payroll period, it also boosts employee morale to have timely, punctual updates on their HR dashboard on pay day!

Enable Flexibility

Any competent, cloud-based HR solution generally comes equipped with attendance and time tracking features, both of which let employees and HR monitor how their daily or weekly work hours and punctuality are being managed. This is key to enabling flexible work hours, especially for hybrid teams that are now spread in multiple time zones. Employees can check in and out on their defined schedules, with the HR system providing real-time updates and tracking to that effect.

 

For businesses, especially small to medium sized ones, that are transitioning (temporarily or permanently) to home-based hybrid work models, it is imperative that the move is as smooth as possible both for the workforce, and the organizational systems in place, key among them of course being HR. Leveraging technology and choosing a competent software solution such as PeopleSonic can help HR be the guiding force to an effective evolution of the concept of a workplace, and help your business stay on top in these turbulent times.