Worldwide there were around 7,800 coworking spaces in operation in 2015. This figure is predicted to reach 37,000 by the year 2018. Coworking has become a preferred way of working for many entrepreneurs, freelancers and remote employees. This type of space has been proven to encourage productivity and stimulate work, because of the close proximity and connection that it offers to like-minded employees, entrepreneurs and startups. BCNewt Coworking in Barcelona began as an industrial building located in the most innovative and modern district of Barcelona, 22@ in Poblenou district.

The post [Infographic] How reliable are your Psychometric Tests? appeared first on Hppy. HR Infographics

Happy employees are crucial to the success of your company – improved morale leads to a more productive workforce. So how can you strike the balance between making your workplace interesting and fun, whilst keeping your employees motivated enough to reach their targets? Strong Communication Channels. 97% of employees and executives believe that poor communication within a team is the main reason for unsatisfactory outcomes. To ensure successful outcomes and prevent employee frustration, provide regular updates to your team. Positive Work Environment. Workplace. Get your free copy.

How many times have you checked your email today? How fast do you check your email and respond when you get a notification? Most employees use up 23% of their days just on email, sending and receiving, on average, 112 emails per day. The trouble with email. Looking at those numbers, it is not surprising that some leaders have begun to question the usefulness of email. The CEO of Atos Origin, Thierry Breton , is one of the people who realized this when he noticed that his employees were distracted by the volume of emails they received during the day. Those CEOs were correct. Banning email.

Although you might not realize it, there may be any number of habits you are doing, or even ignoring, that may be putting your staff at unnecessary risk. Some of these practices are more dangerous than others, and some are really a matter of perspective. The one factor they all have in common, however, is the fact that all of them can have a negative effect on workplace productivity. 1. Overlooking the Health of Your Workers. While there are good leaders and there are bad leaders, nobody would knowingly encourage their team to live an unhealthy lifestyle. Ignoring Uncommon Workplace Hazards.

Every organization would like to build a high performance culture, but these ten non-strategic activities are in the way of making serious progress. Here are the top 10 workplace dysfunctions that consume precious time and suck up emotional energy: 1. Committee work. How many committees do you have working on various projects? What would happen if you reduced the number by 50% and empowered folks to make decisions and get on with execution? Committees are charged with the responsibility of coming up with recommendations that satisfy everyone. Hyper-analysis. Don’t over analyze. Co-ordinating.

Effective management is an important aspect of any business. But being an effective manager can be a struggle for those who are new. Being new may mean transitioning from the role of employee to the role of manager or it could mean transitioning from one company to another. Each transition comes with its own struggle and companies have different strategies for helping new managers. Most new managers have to adjust to new roles and responsibilities. The new role requires a change in perspective and new ways of looking at the inner workings of the company. And what can we do about it?

It seems like every month there is some new app that emerges, some new system to adopt, or a new technology to learn. How does the saying go? The more things change, the more they stay the same. That is true for learning and development in organizations. Employees want to continue to learn new skills and develop their competencies. That doesn’t change. But technology does. As research from Deloitte states : “Employees at all levels expect dynamic, self-directed, continuous learning opportunities from their employers.”. Mobile learning. A big part of learning happens in the mobile space.

You’ve recently hired an employee who nailed the interview. They answered every question with optimism and creativity and their CV was off the charts. Thinking of yourself as a good judge of character, you didn’t bother to call and check their references; you could tell they were going to fit in well. couple of months go by, and the person you thought you hired still hasn’t shown up to work. Yes, they’re physically present and responding to company-wide emails with a ready wit, but that’s about all they do. But still, you’re not ready to give up on them. Communicate The Right Message.

Employees who wish to grow and prosper are always looking for training programs that aim to hone their skills set and challenge their creativity. Employee engagement and satisfaction is inevitably linked to the number of growth opportunities available, as a recent study shows, where 25% of employees said that if they were given the opportunity to do what they are most proficient at, they would certainly be more satisfied with their current job. Your employees will be more than glad to be a part of vigorous training programs that brighten their chances of career growth. Personal Development.

When it comes to the workplace, is there equality or diversity at the top? This has been a question that has been debated for many years now and yet still the answer is no there is not. In actual fact, if you were to guess how many women of the 600 companies in the FTSE 100 and S&P 500 are being led by women today, would you know what the answer is? Well, take your guess here by clicking the icon to reveal the answer. How can these factors be improved and are perceptions changing? Because there needs to be an equal levelling, there needs to be a significant change, more than ever before.

When looking at how to keep an organization in top form, learning and development can be one of the best ways. The Association for Talent Development , based in the United States, concludes that “organizations are more competitive, agile, and engaged when knowledge is constantly and freely shared.”. In fact, after surveying around 830 companies in 2015, they found that organizations with a culture of learning were some of the highest performers. They also found that they attracted more talented employees and had higher levels of customer satisfaction. The current state of L&D.

If leadership skills are on your talent wishlist, you’re not alone. Almost half of the companies surveyed for Workplace Trends’ Global Workforce Leadership survey in February and March said that leadership is the hardest skill to find in employees. What’s more, among the 1,000 employees surveyed, only 36 percent said leadership is a strength in their organization. The natural leaders you’re looking for may not exist — you need to develop them, and a leadership pipeline is key. successful leadership pipeline is made up of both internal and external talent. Screen for leadership potential.

My forthcoming book, Unleashing Capacity: The Hidden Human Resources (2016) addresses a great many tools to help HR managers understand the innate importance of running HR like a business. As a strategic partner to the C-suite, we should act as the canary in the coal mine, warning of market conditions that can jeopardize the longevity of the company, possibly crippling it from any number of angles. The company faces long-term reputation damage and sure hits to their bottom line. But could HR have saved them? Not just catching fire, but causing explosions of the small bomb variety.

Many organisations have a challenge in forging a good working relationship between the finance department and the human resource (HR) department. Conflicts regarding the roles and goals of these departments are common in many organisations. The tension between the two departments starts from their traditional goals and perspectives. The belief that the finance department is solely concerned with money or costs and the HR department with people affects the relationship between these departments. The differing perspectives raise unnecessary tensions in an organisation. Conclusion.

Every manager wants a team that can work on three or four different tasks at the same time, don’t they? An effective worker should be able to pivot from their day-to-day tasks to respond to emails or requests from clients and management or jump on an urgent task as it comes up. After all, a team that can multitask will get twice as much work done in half the time, right? Wrong. Multitasking has been shown to have several negative impacts on workers, both in the short term and over time. The Problem with Multitasking. Suddenly, “high efficiency” isn’t so efficient. Eliminate distractions.

Much has been said about company culture in the past few years, but do you actually know how much it is important to today’s top executives? As Forbes reports , a recent survey of more than 1,400 US CEOs revealed that an overwhelming majority of executives believe that company culture is essential for an organization to thrive. In fact, around 90% of them sad that culture was important in their company and that they believe that improving their company’s culture would definitely improve its value. But how can you create an engaging culture ? Leadership Needs to Set the Tone. Conclusion.

If by know we’re aware that things change along with the new generations, we can definitely state that Millennials are much more complex than the previous generations. According to the definition , millennials are persons who were born around 1970s-2000s. These individuals are becoming familiar with the digital world early in their life; therefore, they develop specific mindsets and behaviors that translate into different needs and expectations for their workplace. Let’s take a look at how millennials are different from other generations: They use technology in better and more productive ways.

Remember how easy it was to make friends on the playground? Someone would ask to take turns on the swings or ask if they could join the soccer game, and that was basically it—you were best friends. Building and maintaining a professional network isn’t like that at all. Staying connected and developing professional relationships takes time, work, and strategy. If you’re trying to improve your professional connections, here are a few times for doing so both in your current work environment as well as online. Improve Your Communication Skills. Respect Others. Respond to Feedback Positively.

Do you listen to music at work? Ever wonder how it impacts your productivity? This infographic by WebpageFX explores the effect of music on productivity and offers some tips for what kinds of music you should play to help you get in the zone and accomplish more each day. Music and business. If you listen to music at the office, you’re not alone. In fact, 61% of employees listen to music at work to boost happiness and productivity. And it works! Studies show that 90% of workers perform better when listening to music, and 88% of employees produce more accurate work. Music and your brain.

Video conferencing is fast becoming the IT tool for a lot of teams. From content sharing features that allow for greater productivity among dispersed teams to HD clarity that makes it seem like you’re all in the same room, companies are starting to see the wonderful perks this technology brings to the table. And just like them, you want to make sure that your team knows how to use this tool as well. You know it works. You’re sure it’s going to do wonders for your team by improving your collaboration, increasing your productivity, and giving everyone a moral boost. Develop a Plan. Time It Right.

Games tables are increasingly popular in today’s offices, with workplace managers and HR staff only recently becoming fully aware of the benefits they offer. From new city start-ups to global technology corporations like Facebook, Google and LinkedIn, savvy office managers are installing games tables for their employees to use. The benefits, as explained by  Liberty Games in this comprehensive infographic, are obvious. Those in high-stress jobs can benefit massively from a daily 10-minute games break. Regular games-playing also has beneficial psychological effects. Get your free copy.

As an entrepreneur you were most probably received a lot of specialized book recommendations that mentioned the classics, the bibles of entrepreneurship, business and marketing. Let’s not insist on those because they are easy to find and it’s possible that they are already in your bookshelf. Instead, let’s have a closer look at some of the newly released books that any entrepreneur should consider reading to help them expand on horizons and assist with their professional development. Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, by Adam Grant. list by  LoveReading.co.uk. Leadership

If you have become an entrepreneur, you should be ready to gather the best members in your team because they are your most important weapon in the business world. You cannot achieve great results with your company just by struggling alone. You need people there to support you with the decisions you make and ready to deal with the daily tasks required to be done to keep the company on top. Appreciate your staff and do the right thing for them and they will do the same for your company. Working together, learning to communicate well and collaborate will ensure perfect success. Get your free copy.

As a relatively new term within the medical community, not only is the job a newer designation but the duties of a Chief Clinical Officer, CCO, are also often blurred due to a job description that is still in the writing. However, there are four duties that overlap HR and those of a CCO which may make it easier to understand just what this position entails. The Qualifications of a CCO. Since the Chief Clinical Officer is answerable only to the Board of Directors and the CEO, it is understood that this is quite a prestigious title. Recruitment. Training & Mentoring. Employee Morale.

Managing any workforce can be a challenge, whether it’s five, fifty, or five hundred people strong. You need some excellent tools on your side to keep track of everybody and their needs. Luckily, there’s plenty of tools online that can do just that. Here’s nine of the best online tools for HR available that will help you keep track of everything you need. Workable. This tool is a one stop shop for hiring in new talent. It features ‘visual pipelines’, that show you at a glance what stage every applicant is at. Boom Essays. Any Perk. Assignment Writer. BambooHR.

Oftentimes , the terms leader and manager are synonymous with each other but there are definitely differences between the two. Do you know the difference between a leader and a manager? Do you know if you currently identify as a leader or a manager? Read on to find out more about the two and how you can make a difference in your workplace. What is management? Whether your title is executive, director, supervisor, or manager — you manage people. That responsibility is a heavy responsibility when you think about it. You have the ability to make their work life great or miserable.

Many of us spend more of our waking hours at work than in the rest of our lives. It’s important to create the type of culture where employees feel connected and don’t mind spending such a huge chunk of their time at your company. The invention of the smartphone virtually eliminated any remaining line between personal and professional life. It seems we’re always “on the clock.” ” We’re expected to be on call 24/7 so our colleagues and clients don’t feel ignored if their text or email doesn’t get answered within five minutes. Take a half-day and explore your city.

The Millennial generation (born 1980 – 2000) has already started to enter the workforce. It’s estimated that Millennials will make up as much as 50% of the workforce by 2020. Together with the generation that follows them, Gen Z, they constitute a growing proportion of employees. These young people have different ambitions from previous generations. They want a comfortable lifestyle, but they also want more intangible things from their work, such as professional achievements, and a sense of connection and purpose. This is a huge mistake. Certified Mentor – 25,600,000 hits on Google.

What do you really know about the data that your business collects? How do you store it, or manage it? What do you do with it once you get it? For many companies, the answer may be, “I don’t know,” or “Not enough.” But all that data—also called Business Intelligence or BI—is a useful tool for understanding both current conditions and future trends. Luckily, the BI software management industry has kept up to speed with needs of companies—no matter what products or services they sell. As you gather that data, you’ll have other people, or other companies, that would love to take it from you.

Statistics indicate that the number of people working remotely has increased exponentially in the last ten years. Employees are embracing more flexible schedules and freelancers are having a swell time working from home. It’s not just employees who are benefiting from this setup. Companies are finding that remote employees often enjoy a greater sense of satisfaction with their job. But how do you manage remote teams effectively? Choosing to work remotely. Working remotely promotes a healthy work-life balance. They are now able to tackle work when they are at their freshest. HR Infographics

It seems like a day doesn’t go by without us getting a reminder of how difficult it is to hire right now. The other day, in fact, I caught this report from Reuters, letting us know that U.S. job openings are at a record high, and that we’re in the midst of one of the biggest skills mismatches in history. This is great news if you’re in the business of helping companies post jobs online. If you work in HR, this news might offer the comfort of knowing that you’re not alone in having hiring troubles. So, what can you do during these times? Easily said, but how to do it? BBraun – Free books!

A dream pay package and six-hour working day won’t make up for a dictator-like manager screaming down the office every afternoon. You can provide all the incentives in the world, but for most employees a job is either made or broken by a boss. Still, knowing how to be a good boss is difficult, especially since the title itself can be authoritarian and off-putting. It’s why most discussions on workplace relationships today refer to leaders instead of bosses. Where bosses command and micromanage, leaders inspire and believe in others. Invest in your skills set. Enable the potential in others.

You’ve heard it a million times. Building extraordinary value in an organization requires amazing people. You can have the most innovative technology and the coolest products and services, but without the people layer to transform these capabilities into value, they are worthless. How do you recruit people who will create unbelievable performance for your organization? What do you look for? The profile of the person you recruit must fit the challenges that organizations face in today’s markets. Human being lover. They have a genuine affection for people ;  they care for others.

Sometimes your company needs to expand or replace employees, but you just don’t have the budget for expensive job boards. Not every hire needs to be through a pricey job board like Indeed or Monster. In fact, with a little ingenuity you can access a larger pool of applicants eager to get hired with free or cheap methods. Thankfully, the Internet exists, as well as these tips on how to hire with a budget. Free Job Boards. You’re on a budget, but you still want the cream of the crop. Which sites can you trust? Find a few job boards that allow you to post for free. Social Media Outreach.

A key predictor of success in any endeavor comes from mindset. It can be tempting to approach the challenges of establishing, rebuilding, or preserving a company culture as an uphill battle when more and more work is done remotely. Managing the corporate culture of a mixed or mobile workplace is a relatively new phenomenon, but it is only gaining ground as technology and generational values shift to incorporate more flexibility and digital integration. This doesn’t have to be a significant hurdle in the legacy you build with your organization. Breaking Down the Digital Divide. 8-tracks?

Gamification at work can be hard to justify to those who don’t know the science – “work isn’t there to be enjoyed” they say. But the simple truth is that if the process has been shown to increase staff happiness, and as a result productivity. Whilst still a fairly new idea, gamification techniques in the workplace are constantly being developed and looks to be getting more innovative with each business quarter. Gamification is the idea of taking the concept, skills and design of games and implementing them in a work environment. Gamification And Engagement – What Are The Employee Benefits?

For a long time, distance learning or correspondence courses as they were sometimes known, had a stigma attached to them. The quality of the materials and the course itself were suspect. People thought that these home education courses were easier, simply a case of ticking a few boxes and reading a few paragraphs could lead to a qualification. Awarding bodies were small organisations, largely unheard of especially when compared to exam boards and agencies. Progress in home study education. Times and attitudes have changed. They choose when and where to study. Tell us in this quick survey.

Great articles make our week so much more productive. We can only thank the writers and companies putting together inspirational and helpful content. Sharing it is our way of doing just that. Here are our favorite articles for this week: The Solution to the Skills Gap Could Already Be Inside Your Company. In a recent interview with AT&T’s chief strategy officer and group president, John Donovan, Cathy Benko, a vice chairman at Deloitte, describes how AT&T has chosen to rapidly re-skill more than a hundred thousand of its current employees. Happy weekend! Friday Finds

Do you agree that the concept of work–life balance is now obsolete? The idea behind work–life balance is great, and for a long time, this concept has been the core of employee engagement strategies. It assumes a separation between work and life and proposes that people should have them in equal proportions. But with the current landscape, it seems that this doesn’t work anymore. We live in an era wherein all our life aspects are impossible to separate from one another. Work–life blend, instead of balance, may be a better solution. Let people access social media. Provide flexibility.

In 2001, a group of software developers decided to create a new way of doing business within their chosen industry. Prior to their meeting, the software programming and development sector had prompted illustrator Scott Adams to make fun of the industry with his Dilbert comic strip; however, the joke was no longer funny to the developers who came up with the Agile Manifesto. Although the Agile Manifesto was originally intended to be applied to software development processes, it did not take long for it to be applied in the fields of project management, human resources and office administration.

Becoming a great workplace, the best company to work for – these are admirable goals. It seems they have naturally evolved from the idea that it is people who build company success. These goals also seem to be in line with trending positive psychology: we aim to build engaging workplaces , ensure the right positivity ratio and cater for wellbeing. All in all, we try to make average people’s workdays a little bit better. But can there be a dark side to this? When it comes to employer branding and attracting the best possible employees, there’s an under looked negative aspect. license.

Last year, the multinational professional service firm Deloitte conducted a survey that revealed that developing workplace culture and increasing employee engagement are the top priorities for Human Resource leaders. However, in spite of this employee engagement still continues to be a big problem. Recently, a Gallup study found out that only around 30% of employees say they are completely engaged in their workplace. What is more, half of the employees do not feel engaged and the rest (around 20%) stated that they are actively disengaged. However, not all is lost. Constant Feedback.

As a former CHRO (Chief Human Resources Officer), I’m familiar with the role. Leader of the HR team, confidant of the CEO, the person in charge of the individuals who drive the larger corporate machine. We mitigate legal risk, optimize performance, handle personal and career growth, and essentially make sure the company can do what it wants to do. Oversimplified, perhaps, but at its core, this is what the role has traditionally always done. It’s the job description in a nutshell with a bit of travel and crisis management thrown in. This is the old HR. We push paper. We coach. They are CEOs.

We all know that it’s hard to be creative and successful at work when we are feeling negative and stressed. Now take a moment to imagine: what would work be like if, instead of feeling negative and stressed, you felt more positive, creative, productive, resilient and engaged? According to studies in positive psychology and neuroscience, you can experience these and more benefits by increasing your own happiness and the happiness of those you work most closely with. The research is abundantly clear: happier brains do better work. Happiness Workshop Activity #2 – Go on a Walking One-on-One.

Have you ever heard of The Five Hour Workday ? It’s written by the founder of Tower Paddle Boards where, you guessed it, they only have a five hour workday. Most of us who are used to at least an eight hour workday may think that’s crazy, but the author explains how it has improved his company’s business operations, employee performance, and more. Though most of us will never have a five hour workday, there is something to say about working more productive hours rather than longer hours. So how do you boost productivity and performance? HR Infographics

Disengagement has been plaguing the workforce for years, showing little improvement in recent times. When your employees are not motivated by their work and feel stuck, they may become mindless clock punchers and start to look for work elsewhere. What’s worse, your company may be stuck with a high turnover rate. According to the 2015 Human Capital Trends report by Bersin for Deloitte , leadership development should be a top priority for companies. The How can employers give their staff a boost and get them engaged in their work? The Leadership is the hardest skill to find in employees.

Employees hold the keys to success for any company that wants to compete in the modern marketplace. Well educated and trained workers add to the productivity and efficiency of the business, while their under-performing counterparts produce low-quality deliverables using obsolete tactics and requiring excessive supervision. Despite the growing body of evidence that shows the value of employee training and development , many small businesses limp along with a team that lacks essential skills and knowledge. Because they want to minimize expenses. Don’t make such a mistake with your business.

The research-based benefits of gratitude in the workplace, and outside of it, are nearly endless. According to this 2015 workforce study , organizations that apply values-based recognition practices experience lower turnover, higher employee engagement, improved team relationships and a more ‘human’ workplace culture. Gratitude Reduces Impatience – A recent study found that when participants felt grateful they were more patient and had increased self-control, even more so than participants who felt happy or neutral. Gratitude Practice #1 – Keep a Gratitude Journal. Employee engagement

Everyone is busy. We’re all so busy. Walk around the floor at your company, and that word is bandied about with fervor. People speak in awe and respect about how “busy” someone is. It’s a mark of distinction. Employees click away, race around from meeting to meeting, making multiple demands on their time and energy. Yes, we are very busy, indeed. But are we productive? Because the words “busy” and “productive” can — and quite often are — mutually exclusive. According to a recent survey, 40% of US employees cite that they’re burnt out. and “Would anyone notice if I quit doing this task?”

Most coffee-holics would agree that every day should be National Coffee Day — however, the rest of the nation will be celebrating on Thursday, September 29th. Some businesses rely heavily on both the caffeinated and social perks of coffee. We’re all aware of which people in the office need at least one cup of coffee before being spoken to, those who need a cup of joe in their hand all day to function, and the guy who will argue to his death that his coffee place makes the only coffee worth sipping. via WholeLattelove. Coffee is still big business, especially office coffee that saw a 4.5

In the Inside Internal Communication 2016 Survey, Paulson Training states that employees with the highest level of commitment perform 20% better and are 87% less likely to leave the organization, making employee communications essential to organization success. Newsweaver has teamed up with Ragan Communications to survey over 850 internal communicators to gain insight into the latest and emerging trends in Internal Communication . Inside IC seeks to understand what is working for internal communicators and what is blocking them from achieving their goals. Get your free copy. HR Infographics

Society has often told us that a leader should act a certain way dependent on their gender. That a good male leader should be strong and unemotional. On the other hand, a female leader should be caring, and not overly assertive. But are these stereotypes actually based on anything substantive? Does adhering to those gender norms create better leaders? What does it take to practice effective leadership? One way is not better than the other, but there does need to be balance. Highlights include: It’s becoming more common for women to be business leaders. Just 3% said the opposite.

Welcome to a new edition of #FridayFinds, where we talk about some of this week’s best articles in HR and business. Let’s dive right in: Rethinking Agile: Learning And Leadership For Business Agility. At the inaugural Business Agility Conference in New York, February 2017, organizational consultants, HR experts, and others will explore issues of agile organization design, leadership, HR policies in agile organizations, and business innovation. ” Manny Gonzalez, CEO of the Scrum Alliance. -> Read more. ” -> Read more. Happy weekend! Friday Finds

How often do you think about if your employees are happy with their job? We’re not just talking about the paycheck and various perks they get (though those are important too), but how they genuinely feel about the work they do. There are many types of leaders, but only the best ones are able to grasp the importance of their workers coming to the office ready to actually make a difference. Making your employees happy will result in the  improvement of overall effectiveness  in the working environment, as well as in better interpersonal relations. Start With Yourself. Micromanagement?

If you want to land your dream job, you need a professional CV or resume to show prospective employers. Another thing that you need is a great cover letter to accompany your CV. This is a step that’s often overlooked. strong resume is not going to take you very far if you simply send it with a note saying “please see attached resume.” Remember, your cover letter is the very first thing people will see. You want to use it to make a great impression. One ironclad rule you should follow for both your resume and your cover letter is to be completely honest. Make it personal. What to leave out.

The top management is the reflection of their teams. They should guide their employees through their working experience, and teach them all they know from day one. Once the training is done, and the teams have been instructed in all the matters of the company, the hard work of top management is still not done. Being able to manage a team also implies to lead them to success, so the manager should always track performance, and come up with solutions to strengthen the weaknesses. The work of any good manager may sometimes seem light while the employees are doing all the heavy lifting. license.

Background checks have been around for years. However, as many people realize, the internet is making it much easier for one to a lot about a person of your concern at the click of a button; from criminal history and public records to finding people and their arrest records. In the past, it was a bit harder, and the background checks reports were shallower, as most of the background checks were done manually. This was as a result of the internet being not much popular. Besides these obvious changes, background checks have had several changes in the last few years. Increased Regulatory Scrutiny.

I can’t tell you how many meetings I’ve attended where teammates have been asked to brainstorm ideas. Everyone comes prepared with some thoughts, everyone listens to all the ideas, and the best ideas rise to the top, right? This is democracy in action, the crux of collaboration, yes? Not exactly. An article in July’s Fast Company in July cites the inefficiency of brainstorming, and when you read the piece it makes complete sense. Ever notice how the people who share first tend to be the ones whose ideas are heard most loudly? Genius, right? It’s a great way to move teamwork to the next level.

“When you start to do the things that you truly love, it wouldn’t matter whether it is Monday or Friday; you would be so excited to wake up each morning to work on your passions.”. Edmond Mbiaka. With this inspirational outlook on Fridays, let’s look at this week’s best, most talked about articles in HR and Employee Engagement: Successful Leaders Know What Made Them Who They Are. Bernie Swain is the founder and chairman of Washington Speakers Bureau and the author of the book  What Made Me Who I Am. For Madeleine Albright, the former U.S. What’s driving this trend?

Increasing efficiency with technology. For a small business, or start-up, getting your feet off the ground is your aim. In order to do that you need to have a good sense of business management and strategy of which productivity and time management are key. We’ve all heard the phrase ‘time is money’ and this is no truer than for small businesses who simply can’t afford to waste time. The key is to be efficient. What is efficiency? Peter Drucker stated that “ There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” So what is efficiency and how can you achieve it?

Performance wanes. Engagement falls and morale sinks. These are tell-tale signs that your culture is sick and needs attention. So how do you go about fixing it? First, three housekeeping questions: 1. What is “culture”?  Culture describes an organization’s working environment. How people behave. What they talk about. How they interact with and treat one another. The values they respect and hold sacred. 2. What is the purpose of culture ? It enables the achievement of goals. Culture is the engine of achievement. What is the “right” culture? You must create the unique one that works for you.

“Welcome to the real world. It sucks. You’re going to love it!”- Monica Geller just summed up our entire adult life. Where bills, jam packed schedules and deadlines govern your day, it’s all the more reason you should get a job. Thankfully a surge in employment opportunities has made things easier, but there’s still a lot to consider. Fresh graduates now face the dilemma of seeking part-time jobs instead of accepting conventional 9-5 jobs; even employers have shifted their preference, selecting candidates open to the idea of flexible working hours. It offers you a fixed source of income.

Staffing is the lifeblood of my HR career. It’s where I truly got my start and really thrived. It’s one of the toughest jobs in our practice, in my opinion, and not just because I used to do it. Because there is rarely a client harder to please than a manager who just lost a treasured employee and not only are they looking to you to fill the position immediately, but they’re also wildly hurt and upset that “turnover is such a problem.”. It’s also incredibly hard in that position to ask them to take a moment for self-reflection. It’s been said that it costs 1.5 What does poor leadership mean?

A well-traveled employee is a lucrative one. Apart from career history, education and personality, some employers are also focusing on a candidate’s travel experience when they consider them for a position. And it’s with good reason. Global employees tend to be adaptable, versatile, confident self-starters. Not to mention friendly and easy to get on with. So, if you’re considering sending an employee abroad, to boost their skills set and, of course, improve your company, what should you think about? Here are 8 tips for sending an employee overseas: 1. Enact a sleep-on-it clause. Set some goals.

If you’re managing a group of people in a working environment, you’re trying to make things work regardless of the obstacles the team faces. Still, disputes will be inevitable. The complicated connections within the team impose the need for hierarchy. Even if everyone respects the person with a higher rank, disagreements may arise because you’re dealing with different characters and egos. It’s important that you manage conflicts before they turn into eroding issues such as low engagement and turnover. The disrupted harmony in the office may cause some of the employees to lose it.

As Labor Day approaches and everyone gets back from vacation, productivity seems to be top-of-mind for both employees and managers alike. This edition of #FridayFinds will help you re-connect with the pulse of the industry and find the productivity that you need, in an engaging working environment. Here are this week’s best, most talked about articles in HR and Employee Engagement: This Startup Uses Artificial Intelligence to Tell What Your Employees Think. Knowing what employees are thinking could be an HR specialists’ bets or worse dream. The Gender Gap in Feedback and Self-Perception.

Millennials are educated; by some accounts, they are the most educated generation in history. But all too often, they are not well-trained. It might be crossing the bridge from theory to practice: classrooms can be sterile places of learning without doing. In many situations, it seems that Millennials lack the soft skills that would make them effective workers. This void often gets disguised by complaints about entitlement attitudes, conflicting motivations, or a simple lack of conditioning through experience in a given field. Educated, But Inexperienced. Training Isn’t Just for New Hires.

The strongest way to make a new culture stick is by transforming new behaviors into regular habits. To really make feedback a part of your culture follow these steps: 1. Trainings. First, really make sure the behaviors your employees are forming are the right ones. You don’t want people to get into the habit of giving feedback that isn’t actionable, or only giving feedback when there’s a problem. As the HR department behind the process, you should come up with a plan with your team on how to provide training that will condition the right kinds of feedback behaviors. Routine. Routine. 1. Reward.

Telecommuting has transformed the way people think about employment and many companies have already proven the benefits of remote work policies. If you haven’t considered the option and don’t have a work-from-home policy in place, you shouldn’t reject such requests as difficult to manage or harmful for productivity. Approach the possibility of allowing remote work with an open mind. Telecommuting benefits workers and their employees in settings where work doesn’t require a physical presence in the company’s facility. Consider Your Company Policy. Next, assess the employee’s job requirements.

You’re quickly approaching your one-year anniversary in your new job and your manager gives you a heads up that your performance review will be due soon. She’s asked that you download the form and complete the employee rating section. You’ll be asked to give yourself an evaluation on a number of factors related to your job and general characteristics that are important for all employees, like teamwork and communication. She tells you that she’ll also give you numeric scores and then you’ll get together to discuss where your scores differ. What a hassle! Old school performance evaluations.

Now that the Great Recession has come to an end, we find ourselves in the midst of a tough hiring market. It’s taking a record amount of time for companies to hire, and the number of HR managers reporting difficulty filling positions has risen steadily from 50% in 2013 to 68% now. These changes have hiring managers, HR and business owners scrambling for ways to attract more quality applicants and convert them to hires. One way to achieve this is through better employer branding – essentially treating your employees and potential employees more like customers. appeared first on Hppy.

Boosting your team’s morale can be tough. However, it is a fundamental aspect in business. Companies must strive to please employees if they want their productivity and bottom line to improve. People with increased, positive morale are a lot more eager to do their jobs, and they don’t see challenging tasks as a chore, but as an opportunity to develop their set of skills. Organizing an outdoor corporate event can make them feel valuable; it can show them that the company is open-minded, and that their ideas do business are indeed worth unconventional. change of scenery. Empowering messages.

Most of us can probably agree that we like to feel appreciated. We feel good when friends, family members, significant others, employers, or even strangers recognize our accomplishments. Research shows that it can be better to express gratitude than to receive recognition. There is good reason for a business to invest in the work of gratitude. People who express gratitude more often display these qualities: Better relationships. Improved physical health and mental health. More prosocial behaviors. Better sleep patterns. Improved self-est eem. Increased resilience. Aspects to avoid.

A job interview is a two-way street of assessing whether this could be a healthy and sustainable relationship for both sides. Of course you should be as professional and amicable as possible during the interview process, but be sure the job you’re vying for lives up to your own standards. It may seem like a dream job at first, especially if it comes with a higher salary. It’s also easy to get blind-sided because you managed to beat out the competition and that can be both extraordinarily difficult and empowering. If that’s the case, it’s a trap. You may have read the job description wrong.

Company Culture. Culture or lack thereof in an organization is a topical issue as outlined in the Deloitte Human Capital Trends 2016 study. Culture has become one of the most important business topics of 2016. CEOs and HR leaders now recognize that culture drives people’s behavior, innovation, and customer service: 82 percent of survey respondents believe that “culture is a potential competitive advantage.”. While culture is widely viewed as important, it is still largely not well understood; many organizations find it difficult to measure and even more difficult to manage. Communication.

If you’re like most people in the workforce, you’ve almost certainly been cautioned at some point to be careful not to change jobs too quickly. This advice usually comes from older workers who are familiar with the status quo of previous decades, where long term employment was the norm and you could expect to stay at the same company until retirement. It sounds nice, but those days were long past twenty years ago. “Job hopping” is now the growing trend, and you can expect it to become only more prevalent as we move further into the 21st century. But why is that?

More and more companies are relying on cloud solutions to handle their data. Storing your company’s information can improve company-wide communication since it provides your employees with ease of access, flexibility, and quicker response times. Among the other benefits of cloud-based solutions are the automation of data heavy processes and the ease of ensuring HR compliance. Before you decide on implementing cloud solutions for your HR department, there are a few things you should take into consideration first. Learn About Cloud Computing. Consider Implementation. under C.C. license.

Welcome to yet another edition of  #FridayFinds, the weekly wrap-up of our favorite reads. Here are this week’s best, most talked about articles in HR and Employee Engagement: Want to Double Your Employee Loyalty? Science Says Provide These 3 Things. Back to neuroscience , Christine Comaford, author of the New York Times Bestseller Smart Tribes: How Teams Become Brilliant Together and neuroscience expert, tells us that 90 percent of our behaviors are driven by our emotional brain. Only 10 percent of our decision making is controlled by our intellect. Tech tools. Happy weekend!

The thirst for outdoing your peers and making the optimum use of your potential to search for something better than your current circumstances, is what drives people to succeed. Getting a good job with a decent salary are no longer the parameters for a successful career, employees are aiming at upgrading their skills for better job prospects or posts in the same organisation. Also, a team of talented and professionally equipped employees are easier to work with and thus an asset for the organisation. What are continuous learning programs? The need for continuous learning. learning.

With online courses, podcasts and new tech tools giving employees more ownership over their professional development, what role should HR now play in learning & development? Even if learning is not directly administered by HR, the department can still play an important facilitator role, using design thinking. Adaptive learning. There is no more one size fits all solution to L&D. Today employees need and want more individualized learning plans. In fact, psychological studies have shown that people have different ways of learning according to their personality. Talent Management

Working in the finance industry can be one of the most interesting jobs but it can also become a bit stale after a while, depending on whether or not an employee has the drive and ambition to become a top performer. The key question here is, what motivates each employee to excel in whatever his or her position is and is there anything you can do, as the boss or team leader, to motivate them? Each employee will have key motivators that are as individual as he or she is, and it is your job as the administrator to find what makes them tick. Strong Management. Motivation starts at the top.

The executive workforce and managerial firepower are the pillars of any organisation. Hiring skilled employees requires a lot of planning and contemplation. This is why more and more human resource managers are turning to social media for help. Gone are the days when ads and classifieds in the newspapers would be used to dictate the recruitment information. Social media has provided faster and efficient solutions with just a click of a button. Given below are some smart solutions for managers to attract the best candidates: Why use social media for talent acquisition? Social media and HR.

There has been a visible surge in companies with remote workforce in the last couple of years. There are teams that function beautifully without being located in the same office. But managing a remote team is very different from managing a co-located team. Since team members are usually spread across several time zones, there can be unnecessary bottlenecks and delays. simple way to tackle this problem is by getting all your team members under one project management system (your virtual office) and making sure you have daily standups at a common time. HR Infographics

A significant part of your life is spent in the workplace. As this is a place where you spend so much of your time, it is vital that your working environment does not have a negative impact on your health. There are steps you can take to prevent this from happening and the following tips will help you to stay healthy in the office: Sitting Comfortably. How you are sitting is really important as sitting incorrectly or having poor quality office furniture can cause problems with your back and joints. Take a Break. Taking a regular break away from your desk is important for several reasons.

This week’s #FridayFinds edition brings you back to the basics of employee engagement. You’ll also find out how to spot top employees and why employees over 40 should be working less hours. Here are this week’s most shared articles in HR and Employee Engagement: 5 Employee Engagement Pitfalls Senior Leadership Should Avoid. It’s always good to circle back to the basics once in a while, especially when things aren’t going as well as they should. Take a look at some practical ideas to overcome these challenges and bring engagement levels back up. -> Read more.

Fifty-seven percent of people report that  benefits and employee perks are their top considerations  before accepting a job, according to a survey conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Glassdoor. Glassdoor also compiled research on companies like Netflix, which announced unlimited maternity and paternity leave for the first year of a child’s birth or adoption, and Airbnb, which offers an annual stipend of $2,000 to travel anywhere in the world. However, companies lacking the financial resources to afford employee perks can get innovative with their compensation plan. Think flexibility.

Stress in your business environment increases costs and challenges your ability to compete. Stressful conditions contribute to communication and productivity problems as well as employee sickness and absenteeism. Business owners must develop an awareness of stress within their organization and find ways to eliminate its sources to stay running at peak efficiency. Let’s look at how you can eliminate stress at work. How Does Stress Affect the Workplace. Some stress can help keep your staff motivated to complete tasks and stay focused on the company mission. Talk to your workers.

Effective employee communication matters. It matters to your employees, it matters to your managers and it matters to your shareholders. Research conducted by the HayGroup showed companies with engaged employees generate 50% more returns for stakeholders than their competitors. Effective communication and financial performance are strongly related. According to Towers Watson research, companies that are highly effective at communication are 1.7 times as likely to outperform their peers. In 2016, when we asked this question again, we found that it hadn’t improved. Get your free copy.

How many people trust their managers? recent study by Edelman found that one in three employees don’t trust their employer. Another study by EY found that number to be even lower, with only 46% having trust in their organization, and 49% in their boss/team. Trust is one of the most important things you need in the workplace. Without it you won’t have the environment you need for an effective feedback culture to grow. So how can you help close the gap and build trust in the workplace? 1. Honesty is the best policy. It may be hard to share difficult news sometimes. Admit mistakes.

If you are like the majority of people in the United States, you own a pet. And most likely that pet is a cat or a dog. Your life probably looks something like this: You get up in the morning, go through your routine, and leave for work. Your pet stays at home and waits for your return. That is the life of most pets and their owners. But what if you were to bring your pet to work? Some employees and employers have taken notice of the importance of pets and how they spend their days alone at home. Employees who bring their pets to work often lead more productive and engaged work lives. Injuries.

“Creative thinking is not a talent; it is a skill that can be learnt. It empowers people by adding strength to their natural abilities which improves teamwork, productivity and where appropriate profits.”. Edward de Bono. Your employees want to feel connected to your organization in a meaningful way. Yes, you hired them to do a particular job, using their skills, knowledge, and expertise. Given the opportunity, you may find you your team members offer a whole lot more ingenuity than you thought. Creativity – as kids, we had boundless opportunities to play, to explore and to figure things out.

Welcome to a new edition of #FridayFinds, our weekly HR & Employee Engagement round-up with the best and most talked-about articles. This week we’re looking at some new research on positive work environments and countries with shorter workdays, but also at an inside view of GE, and how HR Tech is evolving towards PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service): What makes people feel upbeat at work. Over the course of our many articles on happiness at work , we’ve shown how research suggests that people thrive in positive and supportive spaces. It’s a combination of people and technology. The U.S.

Recruiting has become an ongoing war between companies. It’s a true competition between the big companies and the startups, but the opportunities are nearly equal in terms of what they can offer. There are pros and cons to both options. The only job recruiters have is knowing how to present it, how to offer it, and how exactly to find the best talent on the market. When the competition is so high, it’s not just the prospective hires who need to impress, but the employers as well. It’s not about filling an opening, but about finding the right person for it. However, it’s not just for them.

It’s that time of year again. Whether you like to soak up some sun at the beach, take in some culture in a new city, speed down the slopes at a ski resort, or just enjoy a quiet staycation, when is the last time you were on holiday or vacation? If you are like most people, the answer is a long time ago. Most people are not taking off as much time as they need to be. According to recent research , in 2015 Americans TOOK about 16 days for vacation. That means that there were 658 million unused days during the year, 222 million of them lost completely. Why aren’t people taking time off? Economic.

In any company, managers will owe their employees three things: The tools they need to succeed, an environment that bolsters and reinforces their confidence, and trust that they’ll do good work on time. Oh, but that last item is a sticking point for so many managers. All too often, especially in the United States, we see examples of managers re-doing their team members’ work, taking on more than their share of responsibilities, and micromanaging everyone else because they feel they’re the only person on the team who can get things done. This is self-defeating for two reasons. HR Infographics

A fact of running an organization is that employees leave and new ones need to be hired. Sometimes employees leave because they have a change in lifestyle, while other times they leave because they are not happy. To find out why, don’t wait to talk to an employee when they are leaving the company. Be proactive and start having stay interviews. They will not only help you retain employees, but they can help you address issues that will improve engagement for all employees. In the current economic climate, it is becoming more commonplace to change jobs frequently. years. They are cost-effective.

For those experiencing a hot, torrid summer, the workplace might not be the greatest place to be, as we can see in some of the stats in this infographic by Grasshopper. Well, we’re here to help. Let’s start this weekly #FridayFinds edition with some actionable tips on how to overcome the summer slump and regain some much needed productivity: How To Stay Productive During The Summer Slump. It may seem like a no-brainer, but setting the right temperature at work can induce greater productivity. You know what else helps? Exercise. Neuroscience for business says so. -> Read more. Surprising?

147% better performance compared to others. 25-65% less turnover. 37% fewer absences. According to a recent Gallup poll , those are just a few of the benefits of excellent employee engagement. But while the benefits are clear, less than 50% of executives know how to improve it. Enter gamification.  . Gamification: a growing HR trend. Gamification is a growing trend in employee engagement that uses a digital environment to help employees reach certain goals and objectives. Gamification is a natural fit into the worlds of many employees. The art of gamification. It provides instant feedback.

Is your employee scheduling costing your business money? You may not realize this but poor scheduling can lead to an increase in employee turnover. For instance, if you have employees making $30,000 or less, you can expect to pay 16% of their annual salary just to find a replacement. If they make $50,000 or less, that cost increases to 20%. When it comes to scheduling your employees, you must make sure to keep in mind what works best for not only your business but for their personal lives as well. If done incorrectly, your employees won’t be happy, which will lead to an increase in turnover.