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Those in a leadership position know that employee management will make or break the success of their organization. When you keep your employees happy and inspired, it reciprocates as success to your company. Otherwise, when your employees are disgruntled and lazy, it can result in the crumbling of your company’s goals and aspirations. But employee management is easier said than done — we know that. For managers and HR employees, managing employees is the most challenging part of a manager’s daily responsibilities. Despite that, employee managers need not fall short in that responsibility. After all, a functional and efficient workplace instigated by motivated employees can bring fortune and triumph to an organization. What is employee management?  Employee management is a manager’s responsibility to help employees do their best work to achieve bigger goals for the organization. Various tasks fall under employee management, but they can fit into six core principles:  Selection. The process of choosing the right candidates during the hiring process. Measurement. It involves measuring and identifying whether an employee is meeting their goals and has an outstanding performance. Monitoring. The process itself of measuring an employee’s performance.  Interaction. This is the part where you and your team communicate effectively on a daily basis.  Reward. The result of outstanding employee performance. As an employee manager, you have to compensate for that by giving them recognition and merits. Discipline. When an employee exhibits poor performance, you must act immediately by suspending or even terminating them.  The 4 Key Benefits of Employee Management When employee management is implemented effectually, you’ll be able to reap many benefits for the company. The key benefits include: 1. Improved workflow efficiency When you manage your employees effectively, you’ll have no trouble streamlining workflows. How? Well, effective employee management can help you hire the right employee for a specific role. You can easily monitor their activities and ensure that the progress is moving well. Additionally, you’ll be able to effectively communicate with them to guarantee that they understand the project’s demands. 2. Amplified employee productivity and motivation Managing your employees with the right level of concern and appreciation can help you connect with your employees to a personal degree. As a result, you’ll be able to make them feel valued which can significantly improve employee productivity. At the same time, it will be easier for you to get their feedback on various business processes and policies. 3. Lower employee costs Employee turnover is one of the most expensive costs for organizations. Luckily, employee engagement can help you avoid such a problem. With the right employee management, you can keep your employees happier and dedicated to their job. 4. Ensured data security. With the growth of remote teams, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, data security becomes more important for companies with a remote workforce. Strong employee management can help you supervise documents and important data. Since each employee is linked to the documents they are responsible for, you can reduce inefficiencies over data handling. Plus, it can help you improve the company’s data security. So, how does employee management work?   Robert Morris University Professor Dean R. Manna wrote in the Journal of Diversity Management, “employee management is based on ideas and procedures developed to increase worker motivation, productivity, and performance.” From that statement alone, we can conclude that employee management as a key role of an employee’s lifecycle starts during the hiring process. Managers must bear in mind that to manage employees successfully, they need to build and maintain healthy relationships with employees. To do just that, you can follow all these tips to manage employees effectively and successfully. The Guide to a Successful Employee Management  1. Choose the right people. Employee management is important even during the hiring process. And just as it is substantial, hiring is a tricky business. For one, you have to follow the laws and deal with the people without prejudice. Additionally, you have to be vigilant when trying to find and hire the right employee. There are a lot of reasons why you need to have some people-reading skills. At times, the job market isn’t in your favor. There are also times when the person fits the qualifications, but there’s something about them that makes you feel uneasy. According to Blogger Michael Hyatt, these are the list of qualities you need to keep an eye out for. Humility Honesty Hunger for knowledge and success Intellect — not just IQ, but also good mental focus. When considering an applicant, you need to ask yourself first: Are they manageable? Will they take criticism and praise well? Bear in mind that it’s not enough to be skillful; personality is also a substantial factor when hiring the right employee. 2. Be an effective communicator. In a survey of over 1,000 employees, they found that 81% of employees prefer working for a company that values open communication over other perks and benefits. From the same survey, they were able to assess that only 15% of employees were satisfied with their company’s way of communication. The bottom line here is you can’t manage employees if you don’t know how to communicate with them. And sending messages to them is only half the battle — actively listening to your employees is just as important as delivering your messages. To become an effective communicator and employee manager, you must set up a system where employees can voice out their ideas, opinions, and complaints while you are actively listening to them. Don’t forget to apply the following: Transparency. Be sincere when addressing employees. Always update your employees with new company information and announcements. Don’t encourage grapevine communication. All company news must strictly come directly from you, so you can avoid misinformation and company gossips. Visibility. When at all possible, your team must implement face-to-face communication rather than through emails. As a manager, you need to be around, especially at times when employees need you the most. Let employees see you around the office, and encourage them to approach

We all come from different walks of life — thus the reason for many conflicts in the workplace. But today, we’re going to tackle another repercussion of human variability as a whole — and it’s having different types of management styles in the workplace. What is management style? Management style refers to how a manager works to attain their goals. It includes the way a manager plans, organizes, decides, delegates, and manages the employees.  Due to human variability (in terms of culture, sex, principles, level of management, country of residence, and etc.), there are variations in types of management styles as well. To put it simply, management styles are affected by both internal and external factors. Internal factors include the universal corporate and organizational culture of the company. This includes policies, priorities, skill levels, and employee engagement. In reverse, external factors include employment laws, competitors the economy, suppliers, and consumers. While these factors are inevitable, an effective manager is flexible enough to adjust their management style in response to the workplace environment while keeping their focus on fulfilling their targets. But what happens if you chose the wrong management style? Sad to say, the opinion on managers’ worth seems to decline over the last few years. Many articles and news are claiming that managers are useless and unnecessary in today’s workforce.  The question is, why is there a drastic change in public opinion about managers? Why are so many managers viewed unfavorably?  According to Gallup, organizations choose the wrong manager 82% of the time. Imagine, this is one of the most important decisions a company must make. Yet, they fail in doing so 8 out of 10 times.  To add fuel to the fire, a four-year study by Leadership IQ found out that the reason for this failure is that the manager’s style is not cut out for their particular culture. This study alone concludes that if you cannot adapt to the needs of your position and organization, then you are bound to fail from the very start.  The wrong management style can lead to an unengaged team. And when your team is unengaged, this can result in: Poor quality of work A drastic increase in turnover Lower productivity More issues related to absenteeism and theft Decreased profitability To avoid these complications and drawbacks, you need to know which types of management styles to adapt to. Sure, there is no one-size-fits-all management style. After all, they all have their own pros and cons. But to make it easier for you, we divided them into two categories. Specifically, we listed down the best types of management styles to adopt and the worst ones to avoid. The 5 Best Types of Management Styles 1. Democratic The general rule of democratic management is that the majority rules. This means managers don’t keep decision-making tasks to themselves. Instead, they let their employees participate too because they value diverse ideas, and they understand that people play a huge role in the team’s success. Employees highly influence this type of manager. Thus, most employees love this type of management style. Democratic management style makes them feel valued, which forges a healthy and good relationship between the manager and the employee. But be careful not to execute this poorly as this can lead to an inefficient team. Those managers who ponder too much even after consulting their team can slow down the progress. If you want your employees to feel valued, you need to make sure that they’re actually contributing to the decision-making — and not just because you wanted them to feel good. Read: 18 Effective Tricks on How to Find Motivation at Work 2. Visionary Visionary managers convince their team to work hard by highlighting their purpose and vision. After communicating their vision and strategy, they let their employees work on their own instead of micromanaging them. They make sure to check in on them just to make sure that everyone’s on the right track. This is one of the types of best management styles that give employees a great sense of autonomy. That’s because humans tend to feel more satisfied and motivated when they have more control over the tasks assigned to them.  At the same time, visionary managers are known to be firm yet fair. While their visions can’t be easily waivered, they are still open to listening to their employee’s ideas. And if they are presented with a greater idea, they are willing to consider changing their plan. But bear in mind that this type of management style is hard to pull off. It would only work if you are good at selling the purpose of your vision to your employees. If you don’t, you’ll have a hard time turning that vision into reality. 3. Coaching What makes coaching one of the best management styles is how it strives to improve the long-term development of their employees. Their passion is to teach and watch their employees grow. Most of all, they do not feel downcasted when their employees experience short-term failures. For them, what matters is their employees’ ability to learn and develop. Coaching managers like to motivate their employees by giving them a promotion and delegating bigger tasks. In this way, employees feel hungry for knowledge, which results in the stable development of the team’s performance.   Coach managers have two main focuses, which include uniting the team and overseeing every employee’s development. The best teams are the united teams. And when managers are concerned with their employees’ development, it can go a long way toward success. But don’t overdo this, though. Doing this can lead to a relentless environment which can be toxic for the whole team’s relationship. Read: The Complete Guide to Building a Collaborative Team 4. Collaborative  The collaborative management style is similar to that of a democratic management style, but it only differs in one remarkable way. With a collaborative approach, you don’t simply ask your employees for a yes-or-no answer. Instead, you’re actively requesting feedback from

We often see strong work ethics in the list of must-haves for every employee. From ads to job descriptions, employers always include them in traits they require to consider you for a job position. While a good and strong work ethic can be defined in many ways, these definitions still have one thing in common. And that’s having a set of moral principles that an employee uses in his job performance. Whether you’re at the lowest or highest level of employment, you must exhibit strong work ethics in everything you do. In order to exhibit them, we need to dive deeper into its meaning. We will also share ways on how to demonstrate a strong work ethic that will surely help you in your respective career.  What is work ethics: the complete definition. In business definition, work ethics is defined as the “belief in the moral benefit and importance of work and its inherent ability to strengthen character.” In short, work ethic refers to how you feel about your job — which surrounds your behavior and attitude. It also pertains to how well you do your job and the responsibilities that come along with it. But why is it so important to have a good and strong work ethic? Well, for starters, it shows the strength of your character. It makes you look like an all-around positive person, which can be an advantage for you in the workplace. If you’re looked upon favorably by your employer and superior, there’s a higher chance for you to advance in your respective career. You’d be viewed as someone who is approachable and can lead other people competently. By having a strong work ethic, you will likely perform quality work, have good relationships with your colleagues, and work towards important tasks that are valuable to your organization.  By having these factors, you have better chances of promotion and accomplishing career goals. Exhibiting strong career goals can lead to favorable advantages to your careers, such as promotion, a raise, or even a managerial position. 8 Strong Work Ethics Skills But how do you know if your work ethic is good and strong? Particularly, those with a strong work ethic display a set of skills. These skills make them stand out as highly-desired and praise-worthy employees. 1. Integrity To have a strong work ethic, integrity must permeate every aspect of your job. From how you deal with your clients to how you treat everyone in the workplace, you need to do the right thing at all times — even if and especially when no one’s watching. According to Robert Show,  if you’re able to act with integrity, it’s easier for you to earn a certain level of trust. Here’s the formula to support that: Results + Integrity + Concern = Level of Trust In this context, acting with integrity means acting consistently. For instance, as a member of a team, your behavior as a whole should be harmonious. And when I say harmonious, it means acting under a clear set of guidance toward a purpose. 2.  Reliability All employees with strong work ethics have one thing in common — and it’s being reliable. You will notice that these top-notch employees are always on time for shifts and meetings. They strive to offer quality work, and they make sure to submit them on time. When you’re a reliable employee, other team members will be excited to have you as their teammate because they know that you always do your best by contributing fairly to projects. 3. Responsibility. For you to thrive in the workplace, you need to have a keen sense of responsibility. Remember that the moment you became part of the organization, you have agreed to take full responsibility for the tasks and duties you must fulfill. If you want to have a strong work ethic, you must ensure that you can fulfill your task and duties. Make sure that you do your best to get the best results. 4. Productivity A strong work ethic also translates to excellent productivity. When you are productive, it manifests through the amount of output you can render compared to your counterparts.  Additionally, as a productive employee, you must show that you can complete projects early and do more than the minimum requirements. 5. Sense of Teamwork Knowing that you are part of an organization, you must also know that you need to work with other people. If you are unable to play your part as a team member, it will put your work ethic into question. 6. Discipline Strong work ethics stems from you. No matter how many times someone tells you to do this and to do that, it’s still up to how you handle things with discipline. If you do not have enough discipline to stick to the rules, there’s no way you can be the productive employee that a company wants. Keep in mind that to stay disciplined, you need to be dedicated and determined to do what you should.  7. Dedication Part of a good work ethic is staying committed and dedicated to your job. You must know how to focus on your tasks despite the distractions and challenges that come your way. Remember that the moment you signed your employee agreement, you’ve agreed to stay committed to your job throughout your occupancy in the company. 8. Professionalism The word “professionalism” may seem wide in scope. After all, it covers everything from how you dress to how you conduct yourself in front of other people.  When it comes to workplace rules, you need to show your professionalism by using your self-management skills. Even though your boss is not there to watch over you 24/7, you must follow all workplace rules and complete all tasks and projects.  As a professional, you need to dress like it too. Dress appropriately and maintain good personal hygiene. Bear in mind that you represent your company, so be sure to observe professionalism from the way you dress to the way

We can all agree that the first thing employees consider in a job is compensation and benefits. After all, who wouldn’t want to work for a company that could provide them the life of Riley — or an easy and pleasant life? Especially for new job-hunters, they’re always in search of a company that would compensate well in exchange for their talents and knowledge. But as you grow older, you’ll realize that it’s not enough to be paid right. It’s not enough to work for a big company that pays well. In the end, one of the reasons for high employee retention is when employees feel that they’re treated with respect in the workplace. If you were to ask anyone in the workforce what they desire from their superiors, most of them would want to be treated with respect and nobility. Unfortunately, half of the employees claim that they don’t get treated with respect in the workplace by their leaders. This is notable considering how employees report that being treated with respect is the most important behavior that every leader should manifest in the workplace. On the other hand, respectful behaviors aren’t limited to upper management and HR employees. Anyone at any level in the organization can and must show respect for others. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the importance of respect in the workplace and how to implement it. Importance of Respect in the Workplace 1. Respect in the workplace contributes to job satisfaction. In a survey conducted by the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), it states that respectful treatment of employees regardless of their level is “very important” to overall employee job satisfaction. When employees treat each other with respect, it makes them happy with their work, making them proud of what they have accomplished. This sense of satisfaction can benefit employers in the long run. Unlike in workplaces with little or no respect, employees report more conflicts and have lower attendance and engagement. 2. Workplace respect creates a fair environment. One of the best things that an employer can offer is the opportunity for the employees to showcase their skills and knowledge. Being respectful prevents people to play favorites. That means everyone can have the chance to stand tall in the spotlight and let their voices be heard. And in the right setting, they can bloom when they are allowed to contribute fairly and squarely. 3.  Respect increases employee engagement and collaboration. When you turn to your colleagues for help and get their opinions on various problems, it means that you respect them and their abilities. As a result, it leads to more innovative solutions and increased collaboration, which can help them finish their work faster and more efficiently. Soon enough, there could be cross-training across all parts of your companies with the help of your collaborative employees. 4. Respect reduces stress. Both respect and stress reduction are exceptionally important for the overall health of your employees. When employees feel respected, they feel more comfortable sharing ideas and working with their teammates to meet their goals. Improved respect and reduced stress also play an essential impact on the mental as well as physical health of employees. When employees feel respected, they can freely do their jobs without the fear of being criticized. Respect is important in the workplace because it makes them feel relaxed, and they can be themselves without the stress of feeling that they need to overwork just to prove their worth. Simple Ways to Show Respect in the Workplace So how can you show respect in the workplace? There are some universal ways to do so, including the following: 1. Practice basic courtesy and politeness. Most of the time, people define respect as “being courteous or polite.” Coincidentally, these are two elements that make up a successful workplace. People are more inclined to help you if you are polite. There are ways you can show politeness, like asking your coworkers politely for help and thanking them for a nice thing they’ve done. It may look so simple, but it can have a big impact on a good workplace relationship. 2.  Be transparent with each other. People feel respected when they are trusted with information. This way, they can see the bigger picture and larger goals of the company. By being honest and transparent with each other, it proves that you trust your employees enough to share information and you want to work toward the goals together. You can show transparency by sending regular updates on a project and explaining why it’s important to take these certain steps to complete a task. 3. Pay attention to nonverbal communication.  Respect is not only limited to verbal communication — it also applies to nonverbal communication and body language. You can support your colleagues and be as respectful even without talking. Make sure that you think about how you interact with your colleagues. Do you interact with them in a respectful manner? Some examples of nonverbal respect include making eye contact when someone’s talking to you and nodding to prove that you are actively listening. 4. Delegate significant tasks When everyone works together, tasks can be done on time. Plus, you’re able to meet the goals of the organization as well as your clients. But delegating tasks not only makes you effective. It also shows that you respect them enough to assign them an important task. If a colleague offers to help with your workload, give them work that is relevant to their jobs and field. This will help them in their respective careers, just be sure to delegate tasks the right way. 5.  Help each other. We are bound to make mistakes at times. But don’t fret and worry. If they make mistakes, be respectful enough to acknowledge their failures and build them up to overcome potential problems in the future. If they are struggling, offer them a helping hand, so you can accomplish your goals together in no time.

Changes are an essential part of every organization if they want to evolve and remain competitive in the market. The sad part is, it can be immensely disruptive to the employees and executives. And that is if you do not have effective change management strategies.  According to Torben Rick, most efforts toward organizational change fail due to a lot of reasons, including: Failure to meet the target impact Management behavior doesn’t support change Employees are resistant to change Lack of sufficient funds Clearly, developing strategies for change management can be critical. It is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Meaning, what works for you might not work for the business across the street. While you’re in an attempt to make changes for the organization, you need to make sure that you’re implementing the change management strategies that are custom-built for your organization. 10 Change Management Strategies That Will Make Your Initiative Successful These 10 change management strategies will surely help you implement the changes in your organization. Use this as a guide when implementing your custom-built strategies. 1. Before planning your strategies for change management, you must first identify the change characteristics. The departments involved need to identify the characteristics of the organizational change. Like, how big is it, who will be affected, and does it compete with other initiatives? To understand the characteristics of the change, you must be able to answer the following: Scope of the change Who will be impacted The time frame of the change What is/are being changed (processes, job roles, systems) 2.  Start at the top of the hierarchy. Successful change management initiatives always start at the top. This means that the group of executives must be committed and well-aligned. Additionally, you need to make sure that the initiative is strongly supported by the CEO. Keep in mind that this need not be taken for granted. Rather, this must be done in advance to ensure that everyone is on the same page about the case for the change. 3. Always lead with the culture. Oftentimes, we overlook the importance of culture to the success of change management. Perhaps it’s because change management designers see culture as the image of the past that they’re trying to change. Or perhaps, they focus more on structural details (like reporting lines and formal processes) that they forget that those with strong connections to the culture will be affected by such changes.   Whatever the reason is, you need to ensure that you make the most out of your company’s culture instead of changing it. As a leader, you must look for the parts of the existing culture that are relevant to the change, emphasize it, and attract those who will be affected by the change. 4. Ask for feedback from the very start.  According to a survey by Katzenback Center, 38% of employees are not in favor of the change that the company is undergoing. You need to consider the opinion of that 38% because they are the ones directly affected by the change. From the very beginning, it’s more efficient to ask for their feedback so that you can streamline the change and set it up for success. Don’t make the mistake of excluding your employees from the agreement and only considering the opinion of the high-level executives. 5. Simplify the process. Changes — while necessary — can be pretty overwhelming. This is especially true when the change is sudden and without any consideration for the regular employees. The best strategy for change management here is to keep it simple. Don’t try to do too much at the same time. As much as possible, you can lengthen the implementation time, so everyone can prepare for the changes. Don’t forget to stick to a goal and define it as simple as possible.  6. Try this experimental change management strategy. Do you still remember your science experiments from high school? If so, I bet you’ve heard of the treatment and control groups. Use this method when introducing changes to the company. Start by presenting change into a section of the company. They will act as the “treatment group” or the experimental group. The unchanged portion of the company will serve as the “control group.” Then, try to observe the differences in productivity, morale, finances, and other statistics. This will help you determine whether the change is successful or if it needs more improvement. 7. Strengthen informal solutions. More often than not, we neglect the importance of the cultural and informal aspects of the company. However, you must know that formal and informal solutions should always work together.  Informal changes can be as simple as changing your motto that governed frontline decision making.  8. Implement this change management strategy: employee recognition programs. Employee recognition should always be one of the top priorities of every company, especially in times of changeover. You can implement rewards for employees who are helping with the changes. By doing this, you are teaching your employees how to model their behavior toward what the upper management is looking for in times of challenges. Also, it shows that you care and appreciate your employees even during what can be a hard time for many of them. 9. Always value communication. It is never enough to communicate the change and then expect that all of your employees can catch up. You must constantly look for feedback and use it to adjust and realign your change management strategies as necessary. Surveys, meetings, and company-wide webcasts — these can assist your employees to stay on the same boat in this time of transition. 10. Shift the weight of change. Yes, people are often too quick to disapprove of change, but that doesn’t mean they are not quick to adapt to new environments. Companies should take advantage of this adaptability to create a new system. If there’s a perfect time to complete new processes, workflows, and values, it would be now.  This change management strategy works best for situations that involve transformative changes.

Construction payroll software is a tool specially designed to manage all salary-related transactions of a company. If you employ people, naturally, those people need to be paid for their labor. And by that logic alone, businesses tend to purchase payroll software as one of their first technologies to streamline processes. Purchasing a construction payroll software comes with a potential risk, though. If you lack experience and knowledge, you might mistakenly purchase one that is not a fit for your business. That’s why before purchasing construction payroll software, you must first pay special attention to the key features listed here in our research.  1. Timesheet entry for flexible integration with third-party software Your construction payroll software must have a timesheet entry feature to report and track equipment and materials. At the same time, this feature must be able to collect job and employee information. In this way, you can free up space used as storage for files. Additionally, integrating it with third-party timesheet software can be a great benefit for busy organizations.  2. Construction payroll software with job cost and general ledger integration This is an important feature for contractors who manage job costs by merging payroll data with general ledger. Before purchasing software, keep in mind that it must have a feature that makes corresponding entries to the general ledger whenever the job cost is updated. 3.  Automated tax filing services To save time, your software must be able to automate tax deductions to the employees. We all know that manual calculation takes time and has the potential for errors. With this feature, your software can make the job easier for you. Plus, it can save from trouble with federal, local, and other payroll taxes — just ask the BIR! 4. Employee self-service The best thing about this feature is that your employees don’t have to keep requesting access to the payroll information. Employee self-service puts all of your employees’ payroll data at the tip of their fingers. As a result, they will have easier access to their W-2 forms and pay stubs. 5. Security Controls Good construction payroll software is not complete without its security features. Clearly, your software must have a passcode and a secured database to protect confidential salary information. Another basic security feature is tracking user activity. 6. Construction payroll software with direct deposit Direct deposit is a win-win for your business and employees. With this feature, you can avoid printing and distribution of paychecks, so it will definitely save you both money and time. At the same time, employees don’t have to worry about check fraud and losing their paychecks. Plus, it saves paper too! 7. Adjustment administrator A payroll system goes beyond standard wage management. Your software needs to consider the compensation, bonuses, and adjustments for changes in the minimum wage. In addition, it must provide you with a better payroll management strategy by overseeing non-traditional payment practices. 8. Don’t forget the reporting feature in your construction payroll software! Every business software includes some kind of reporting feature, and this goes the same for construction payroll software. The reason for that is because reporting is an important tool that gives you insights into your payroll processes. Payroll reports provide you with a review of your budget, taxes, and compensation. In return, these reports can provide you with patterns which the HR and accounting departments can use for their operations. When choosing the best construction software payroll for your business, it must have more than just the above features. Additionally, make sure that it has a user-friendly interface to make payroll tasks easier for you.  With that being said, SprintHR offers all these features among other unique ones as well. For example, SprintHR has an auto-sync biometric feature where the attendance automatically syncs to the SprintHR in real-time. It also accepts multiple schedules, so that all shifts — be it day or night — are covered. Make sure you consider these features before purchasing payroll software for your construction business.

Employee retention is one of the major concerns of HR employees and business executives. For them, it is more efficient to retain an outstanding employee than to recruit a replacement employee and undergo the whole process of training and orientation again. And if we are to talk about the costs, retaining an employee is more cost-effective than losing talent in the workforce over time. With that being said, companies rely on smart strategies for employee retention to keep their best employees and avoid outrageous turnover costs. A successful strategy for employee retention needs to be aligned with the whole team’s point of view in terms of desires and goals. While no two employees are the same (each has different desires and goals), all of them want to feel appreciated and treated justly. Above anything else, they want to feel excited by their work and be compensated at or beyond market rates with good benefits. 17 Best Strategies for Employee Retention of All Time But aside from doing the bare minimum as mentioned above, managers and HR employees need to implement strategies for employee retention in simple and subtle ways. If you are serious about retaining your best employees, you can follow these 17 strategies for employee retention that will help you reduce replacement costs and keep productivity and morale high. 1. Employee retention strategy should start during orientation. From the very start, your new hires should feel welcomed by the whole company and set up for success. Let them know how they can contribute to the company and how it will help them prosper in their career. At the end of the day, the training and orientation you provide from the start can set the tone of the employee’s whole tenure at the company.  2.  Provide your employees with the tools they need. Your employees are more likely to stay when you listen to their needs. Not only will this help you simplify the processes in the company, but it will also make your employees feel that their voices are heard and that their comfort and needs are on your top priority. You may set a suggestion box in your office so that everyone can participate in giving feedback and suggestions. 3. Provide mentors for those who need it. For new hires, pairing them with seasoned employees is one of the best strategies for employee retention. Your veteran employee will serve as their resource and go-to person whenever they need to ask something. But make sure that the mentor doesn’t act bossy. Instead, they need to be someone that a new hire can lean on and will introduce them to the company culture. 4. Offer books for employees. Some companies, like Buffer, provide everyone in their team an infinite supply of Kindle books. This is a fantastic and cost-effective way to motivate and retain your employees — especially the book worms. In this way, you are encouraging ongoing learning and reading for your employees which can also benefit the company. 5. Encouraging strategy for employee retention: giving positive feedback We all know that positive and constructive reinforcement can help employees improve and do their best work. A study on Harvard Business Review stated that the ideal ratio between positive and negative feedback is 5.6 to 1.  Provide your employees with positive feedback frequently to motivated them to do their best work. At the same time, you must also give them constructive feedback, especially when there’s a critical issue that must be nipped in the bud.  6. Set a relaxed and casual mood in the office.  The atmosphere in the office should be a perfect balance between professional and relaxed and casual. One way you can do this is to have a business casual dress code and a “dress down” day at least once a week. This retention strategy for employees is an incentive that is highly appreciated by employees. Plus, it puts employees at ease, giving them more motivation to work harder. 7. Give them a balance between their work and life. What does your company culture promote? Be careful not to have a culture that promotes and encourages around-the-clock availability as it is not conducive to employee retention. Your employees have a life outside of their work and they need to have a healthy work-life balance. Encourage your employees to take their vacation leave. Ad if late nights are needed to finish a project, see if you can offer an extra day off to compensate. 8. Challenge your employees the right way. One of the many reasons why employees leave a company is because they are bored doing the same thing every day. On the other end, assigning difficult tasks to your employees can make them feel ambivalent about their future in the company. What you need to give them is a balance between challenging and engaging tasks. Determine what type of tasks your employees are more likely to excel at that they enjoy doing. Give them full responsibility for the project instead of micromanaging them. Additionally, make sure to provide them the tools they’ll be needing for the project. 9. Celebrate their success. Whether it’s an individual or team success, one of the best strategies for employee recognition is acknowledging it. Take note that every milestone should be celebrated — from a massive sale to setting a new record. Seize the moment to celebrate with the whole team– you can opt for a company dinner or a Sunday outing. 10.  Offer them an employee retention strategy that could help them grow. Some companies promote people outside their organization. Sadly, they don’t offer the same for the employees within their organization. When employees feel like they’re not improving in their careers, they become discouraged and are less likely to stay. The best action plan is to keep your employees trained through seminars, mentoring, or cross-department training. If you are unsure of what type of training suits your employee best, then feel free to involve them in the discussion. 

I think it’s safe to say that each of us has fallen into a slump at some point in our lives. And I also think it’s safe to say that one of the biggest culprits is demotivation. Yes, you heard it right: demotivation–the drawback to every dream and aspiration. It’s what makes you feel as if making positive changes seems too difficult, making it feel like it’s the end-all-be-all of your career. But the good thing is, this is not a hopeless case for you. The fact that you’re here, curious about where and how to find motivation, is a sign that you’re actively taking action to stay motivated. Right now, you’re not making progress yet, but this is definitely a good start. When you have no motivation at work, your output and productivity suffer. Sadly, in this economy that pretty much requires you to work hard to live comfortably, you can’t afford to be demotivated. So where do you go from here? How do you find motivation in times of trough? 18 Effective Tricks on How to Find Motivation at Work When I fall out of love with the things I used to enjoy–especially work–I look back to these tricks on how to find motivation. If you are looking for the right answers on how to be motivated and break out of the slump, then I believe these could help you as well. 1. Chunking Have you ever heard of the word chunking? In cognitive psychology, it’s a process of breaking things down into smaller parts. Originally, it’s a technique used to improve memory performance. Unless you have a pictographic memory, it might be pretty rough to remember a long string of random numbers like 5456519026. But if you break it up into chunks (545-651-9026), it will be much easier for you to remember the long string of numbers. Chunking applies to much more than remembering numbers. Heck, it’s one of the best strategies in just about any endeavor, including how to be motivated during dire times. Here’s an example: suppose you have a 25-pages report to finish by the end of the week and you keep delaying it. The reason why you keep delaying it is that you see it as a giant, overwhelming task. Instead of seeing it that way, why not try to break it down into smaller chunks? Try to write at least 5 pages a day, and you’ll be done in no more than 6 days. Chunking works like magic for anyone who needs motivation. It increases our self-efficacy or the feeling that we can successfully achieve a goal. 2. How to find motivation? Find inspiration! For me, inspiration comes from others who have attained the goals I’ve been wanting to attain. Whether it’s a short-term or long-term goal, I rely on people who had gone through what I’m currently going through as my inspiration. Finding inspiration from all sorts of places is a good way to uplift me (and maybe even you), especially when I need motivation. Knowing that someone achieves the results I want to achieve makes me feel like your efforts are valid and that you will achieve the same results if you just keep trying. 3. Try the Ulysses Pact. The Ulysses Pact is a technique for sticking with your goals and holding yourself accountable even when it gets hard. Its key ingredient is that we make a choice when things are easier (present) that connects us to act when things get harder (future).  Suppose you have two deadlines this week. You could write your friend two checks, each for $5, and tell them to cash one and use the money if you don’t finish them by the end of the day.  To keep it short, the Ulysses Pact is a good technique if you’re struggling with how to find motivation by locking in a future behavior ahead of time. 4. Post your goal publicly. Honestly, no one likes to look bad in front of others. We will go the extra mile just to do something we’ve said publicly to save ourselves from possible humiliation. You don’t have to commit to your goal in your local newspaper. Instead, try to share your goals with friends, families, and bosses, or you can write a blog about it if you have one. Don’t forget to hold yourself accountable–try to commit to giving updates to everyone every day or so. 5. If you don’t know where and how to find motivation, try to have an artificial positive reinforcement. We all get the idea and the power of positive reinforcement in our lives. Sadly, there are times when it doesn’t occur inherently or by default. But by building positive reinforcement mechanisms to our own goals and challenges, we can make it work the same way as receiving it from others. Try to artificially set up a reward system and positive reinforcement for yourself. I know it seems silly at first, but if you want to know how to get motivated at work, this will do the trick. 6. One goal at a time. Whenever you have no motivation, that’s often because you have too much going on in your life. When you have too much on your plate, it can sap your energy and motivation. One of the most common mistakes we make is taking on too much, trying to accomplish many goals at once.  Remember that you can’t maintain your energy and focus on two or more things at once. For now, try to choose one goal and focus on it completely.  7. How to find motivation? Paint the picture. The art of visualization is a straightforward practice that can greatly boost motivation. It basically works on a simple principle of motivation: the more specific a goal is, the more we’ll feel inspired to achieve it. No matter what your goal is, make time to visualize and paint the picture in your mind. Think about the benefits that come along with your

Most people assume that team collaboration is the same thing as teamwork — but it is not. We know that teamwork means discussing tasks that need to be done, who will do those tasks, and then you are off and running. But it is important to know that a collaborative team is more than that, and their difference is not just a matter of semantics. What is team collaboration?   Collaborative teams are slightly different from traditional teams because their members have different skill sets. When there is collaboration in a team, they are able to share similar goals, resources, and leadership despite having varying areas of expertise. And by using their diverse set of expertise, they’ll be able to solve problems as a group. One best example of group collaboration is rope-pulling. A group may have an engineer to explain the mechanism of rope-pulling, a foreman to decide the members of the team and other roles who will use their expertise to solve the problem. Using their varying expertise, they’ll be able to solve their common goal, which in this case, is to pull the rope. 10 Simple Ways to Build a Collaborative Team Collaboration for teams is a key factor in building small businesses because it cultivates productivity, energy, and success. Here are simple ways you can do to transition from a traditional team to a collaborative team. 1. Establish a common goal and purpose We are told that a collaborative team means being able to solve problems despite their differences in skills. To make those differences work, they must have a common goal and purpose.  Some ideas you can do to create a common goal include creating and reviewing the team’s charter. If you’re thinking about re-creating your charter, you may add the following: Team purpose Goals Team member’s roles Work processes Communication You can also discuss the purpose of your team, and allow each team member to express commitment.  Read: 6 Essential Tips When Writing Email Professionally 2. Institute new team collaboration policies Feel free to institute new policies within your team. For instance, require all your team members to answer during meetings and brainstorming (“We All Answer” Policy). This will help you avoid having only your stronger employees participate. Additionally, you will be able to develop a more diverse plan that can ignite innovative ideas.  You can also institute a “No Bad Ideas” policy. This policy involves encouraging your team members to suggest and say anything without judgment. Doing this will make them feel confident. In the future, they might be able to come up with creative and better ideas without fearing rejection. 3. Assign leaders who are not just task-oriented — but also relationship-oriented Some may argue that being task-oriented is the best leadership style. Though, others suggested that relationship-oriented leadership is the most appropriate, especially in complex teams. But if you want to instill collaboration in teams, you must assign leaders who are both task-oriented and relationship-oriented. The most productive and innovative team we know are led by leaders who are both task- and relationship-oriented. They make their goals clear, engage in debates, and clarify the responsibilities of their team members.  At the same time, they also know how to socialize with their employees. This shift often happens when tensions around sharing knowledge of team members begun to emerge. Read: 7 Easy Steps to Delegate Tasks Effectively 4. Foster unity between team members A collaborative team foster cohesion within their people. This makes them successful because every team employee is included in as many decisions as possible. This makes them feel like they belong and that their role is significant which causes them to naturally perform better.  To establish cohesion, your team should participate in daily huddles to discuss your goals and objectives for the day. This will help them draw out duplication of effort and competition among team members. Additionally, daily huddles will keep everyone on the same page and will enable them to redirect their efforts. 5. Maintain clear-cut HR practices Obviously, human resources are part of establishing collaboration in a team. After all, collaboration is not solely in the hands of the executive team. During our study, we found out that the impact of a wide variety of HR practices (including selection, promotion, rewards, and training) is influential to one’s team performance. One thing we learned is that HR’s type of reward system had no discernible effect on the team’s productivity. If you truly want to improve team collaboration, the HR department must invest in both of these practices: training in collaborative behavior-related skills and supporting informal community building.  Read: 8 Leadership Goals That Will Make You Successful 6. A collaborative team must communicate their expectations The bare minimum of every collaborative team is to have clear communication between one another. To promote this, the team leader must provide its members with defined individual and collective roles and responsibilities within the team. When they have a clear knowledge about their role, it helps them work more effectively and prevent unforeseen conflicts. Read: The Importance of Good Communication in the Workplace and How to Improve It 7. Appreciate your team’s diversity By now, we all know that team members come from all walks of life. They have different backgrounds and perspectives which makes their strategies and knowledge different from one another. To build a collaborative team, you must take advantage of your team’s diversity. Remember that each person differs from one another. But luckily, you can use that as an opportunity to learn from other people’s experiences. At the end of the day, the more diverse a group is the more innovative your ideas can be. 8. Trust each other Your team exists for the purpose of solving problems and reaching goals. Having a shared vision and goals means you must trust each other despite the differences in personality and mindset. The best thing you can do to foster trust in your collaborative team is to instill honesty. Encourage your team

One of the telltale signs of a growing company is when you see a lot of new faces at work. Obviously, it’s a good thing, but for HR employees, these new faces at work also mean that they’ll need to train all these new employees. From an HR staff’s perspective, preparing for an orientation for a new employee can be pretty tiring and tedious. But it’s an inevitable task to secure a continuous growth for their business.  What is a job orientation? Job orientation is the process of introducing and welcoming new hires to their jobs, co-workers, teammates, and responsibilities. It is also the perfect start to a comfortable relationship between the new hire and their new teams, departments, and roles within the company. An effective orientation for a job must answer all the questions or concerns the new employee has in mind and makes them aware of the policies and expectations of the company from them. Why is a job orientation for a new employee important? A job orientation for a new employee is a make-or-break experience for them. At its best, the process of new hire orientation can solidify the relationship between the new employee and the organization. It also fuels their enthusiasm and productivity, which is where a company depends on for success in the long run.  To support this, a statistic shows that 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company that provided them with a fun and informative job orientation prior to their first day at work. And depending on the quality of the orientation, it can take anywhere between 8 months and 2 years for a new employee to attain full productivity.  How to have a successful orientation for a new employee? Orientation for a new employee takes more than just colorful handouts and flashy visuals. The key to a successful orientation is to make your new hire feel welcomed, appreciated, and productive from day one. Here are the goals you need to follow to create an effective new hire orientation. 1. Make employees feel welcomed and appreciated. Most of the time, companies are so good at celebrating the departure of a coworker. But why are companies so awful at welcoming a new employee?  Imagine how it feels to start a new job only to have your supervisor and colleagues ignore you during the first week. If you understand the effectiveness of the orientation of new employees, why not show them a little bit of love during their orientation? You can do a simple celebration method, like a letter of welcome signed by the CEO or a company shirt signed by all department members. If you are feeling extra, why not schedule a welcome dinner for families during the employee’s first month? Read: 6 Essential Tips When Writing Email Professionally 2. Provide an overview of each department’s function during the orientation for a new employee Employers and HR staff tend to overlook the most important question of a new hire: “How will my work impact my department, and ultimately, the company?” When orienting employees, place yourself in the new hire’s shoe. If you were them, of course, you’d be thrilled to know your function as well as the overview of each department’s function. So make sure that you include information about the specific process of each department, from their inputs to their outputs. To make it clear for the new hire, provide examples of how these functions relate to the employee’s function. Discuss your expected contributions from them and how they will help the company. You may also want to provide a glossary of the company’s acronyms, buzzword, and FAQs (a handbook, basically) so they don’t have to ask even the basic questions. Make yourself available for inquires and questions. You may also opt to provide them a departmental mentor who can assist with questions and processes during their first month. 3. Manage the specific training for the new hire Ideally, the new employee’s supervisor must also participate in the new employee orientation. While the human resources department handles the company overview and other basic information, the supervisor must handle the work-specific and departmental orientation.  On the first day, the new employee should meet with their new supervisor. The supervisor should plan a comprehensive meeting about their plan for specific training. During the meeting, both the supervisor and the new employee are encouraged to share their expectations as they build a positive relationship together, including fears or reservations they may have. As the manager, make sure to keep the meeting positive and assign the employee on a meaningful task. Read: 7 Easy Steps to Delegate Tasks Effectively 4. Measure the success of the new employee orientation A good training program always asks for participant evaluations at the end. To do this, you may want to offer a brief, five-question survey that focuses on the presentation. Encourage the participants to provide feedback about what information they would like to have received during the orientation program. Find out what information was deemed unneeded, so you can cross it out on your next new employee orientation.  Always remember that your new hires are human. I know a lot of new hires who question their decision of joining the company even on their first day. That’s because their anxieties are fueled by mistakes that companies make during the orientation. Remember that your new hires are human — not robots. Don’t overwhelm them with facts and names into one eight-hour day. Before initiating the new employee orientation, ask yourself: “What first impression do I want to make?” First impressions indeed last in a company set up. It is what cements the deal for a newly hired employee. By incorporating these guidelines, you will be able to seal the deal with your new hires and create a positive relationship with them for years to come.