If you’re new to the world of business, you want to make sure that you hit the ground running, as the early days can often be the most difficult as you’re likely spending more money than you might expect. Even later on, as a more established business, you want to make sure you’re doing as many things right as possible. The landscape that you find yourself in as a business is a very competitive one, meaning that any advantage that you can leverage is something that’s potentially worth doing. Your next step should be finding out what you can do to accomplish this and then making the most of your newfound position as a business with the right approach to success. Streamline Your Hiring Process Different people in your position will have different attitudes towards the importance that employees play in the overall success of the business, but a lot of people agree that their role is an instrumental one. With this in mind, you might find that your first step is making sure that your hiring process is as effective as possible – find the best possible candidates for the jobs that you have available and ensure the application process is suitably succinct. It’s not necessary to accomplish something like this on your own, especially if you’re used to doing things a different way, so seeking help from companies such as DataCheck can mean that the improvements you feel are far more substantial than you would have otherwise been able to achieve. When you’re talking about your employees, it’s also important that you think about their importance after you’ve hired them. Employees aren’t simply machines that can benefit you only, you need to treat them properly and do what you can to make sure that they’re happy and comfortable in their positions. Failing to do this won’t just mean that their productivity may slip, but also that they might seek work elsewhere, somewhere they feel their efforts will be more appreciated. Adapt to Changing Times In all areas of life, outside of business, it isn’t uncommon to find people who are particularly averse to change. In particular, change that requires them to do something differently to how they’ve always done it. It’s understandable why people can feel this way, it’s easier to just keep doing something the same way as always, after all. However, when the aim of the game is standing out and giving your customers or clients a reason to choose you, it’s important that you keep an open mind about change. This isn’t just for the sake of your clients either. Your employees may well respond more positively to you if they know that they can approach you with ideas and you value and will take time to consider these suggestions. This mentality is something that’s especially important to maintain in an age where technology is rapidly improving and allowing for different ways of doing things in such short spans of...

Building A Strong Organizational Culture Made Easy Company culture can be defined as the personality of the company. It perfectly blends the company’s vision, workspace ethics, values, and employee behavior to emerge as a brand image. This image is the one you showcase to your customers and employees. Your company culture will make you stand out from the crowd and help your customers identify you as a unique entity. Now, let us take a look at a few companies that strongly imbibes a unique company culture. Google, consistently ranked the best company for exceptional organizational culture, is a great place to work with free food, nap pods, game stations, and slides. All this together makes the office nothing short of a playground for grown-ups. Apple is another company that follows a collaborative teamwork environment and allows its employees to be equal contributors to its vision. No wonder the IT giant retains its spot as the most desirable place to work! What Makes these Corporate Cultures so Appealing and Attractive? Studies reveal that employees who are content with their workplaces are the ones who are more productive. With worldwide data suggesting an increased employee turnover due to a highly stressful work culture, it’s high time organizations start giving more importance to it. An employee monitoring software will help you keep track of your team’s activities and keep an eye on their work interactions. A less compassionate work environment, lack of mutual respect between colleagues, and biased treatment indicate that you need to improve the company culture as soon as possible. Five ways to build strong company culture A Strong Company Vision Your company imbibes your vision and personality. No matter how well your company grows, the culture you had envisioned drives you forward consistently. These core principles build a strong foundation for your company. As the company grows and resources add up, your company image tends to carry the traits of the employees and their understanding of the organizational structure. This makes it highly imperative to lay a deliberate foundation of the company culture that carries forth the founder’s vision and values. A Happy Working Space Allowing the employees to be their true selves and encouraging them to come up with innovative ideas to fulfill the company vision increases their engagement. You can even conduct surveys and team bonding exercises like fun activities or informal gatherings to lighten the atmosphere. Remember! A happy employee is a highly productive employee! An Empathetic Management Always acknowledge an employee’s efforts and ensure that they never feel left out. Use employee tracking software to track their work activities and reward the highly committed team members. Shower them with surprises like work anniversary wishes or birthday celebrations. Extend support to your colleagues if they require help and understand how sound they are physically and mentally. Right Retention Strategies A performance-based culture is the key to retaining the top talents in an organization. First, define your goals and objectives. Next, ensure that you maintain transparent performance data about your employees. This will help you retain the best talents by introducing retention programs or training to help them realize their importance in the growth and future of the company. A Team That Appreciates Talents A company culture with honest recognition and appreciation can establish a positive work environment. Also, it will prompt each employee to take pride in contributing to the company’s growth. Recognition plays a vital part in inspiring and motivating the employees. An employee-first culture is indeed the way forward. Ensure that your company culture imbibes this quality and makes the work environment fun and productive at the same...

A company is only as good as the people that work in it, so if you’re a small business owner, then you want to make sure that you’re hiring the best people to work for you. Of course, it’s possible to do all of your recruitment tasks in-house; however, this can not only be a time-consuming task but might also prevent you from accessing the best talent out there. That’s why many companies turn to recruitment agencies for help when bringing on new staff. Here’s how doing so could benefit you and your business. It can save you time Sifting through all those applications and checking people’s CVs can take a surprisingly long time, especially when you consider that inevitably a number of them will not even be worth considering for the position. Instead of wasting countless hours on that and other tasks such as scheduling interviews and notifying unsuccessful candidates, you can hire a recruitment agency to take care of everything for you. That leaves you with more free time to focus on those aspects of running a company that only you can do, put in some deep work, and do the tasks that you enjoy the most. You can benefit from expert knowledge Recruitment is an entire field of its own, and as such, there’s a lot to learn if you want to do it successfully. From understanding where to advertise and the current legislation to salary trends and skill shortages, a recruitment agency will have all the relevant market knowledge required to get you the best candidates. This is especially true if you choose a company that specializes in recruiting for your field – for example, an Industrial Recruitment Agency if you operate in the warehousing and manufacturing sector. They offer a range of services A recruitment agency can truly do a lot for you. They can handle everything from advertising the roles you have available to negotiating salaries with people and verifying candidate information. Temporary jobs can often be filled instantly by someone in their current pool, and they can even administer psychometric tests before you conduct interviews. All of this can also result in cost savings too, reducing the amount you need to spend on advertising, overtime, and training. Speak to an agency to see exactly what services they offer – they might well suggest something you’ve not thought of before! It can improve your chances of attracting better candidates Ultimately the whole point of recruitment is to get the best person for the job, and using a recruitment agency can increase the likelihood of that happening for you. They know where to advertise to attract top-quality candidates and have the networks to approach people who might not be actively looking for a new role but would be open to the opportunity you’re offering. Thus an agency can connect you with talented potential staff who you wouldn’t have access to or draw the attention of on your own. This is particularly useful if you’re searching for someone with niche skills or specific...

“Never waste a good opportunity to learn from a bad manager.” Employee turnover is maximum attributed to bad management by managers and it is crucial for the managers to learn to be emotionally emphathetic. What makes a great manager? Great managers exhibit the following traits: Connect people to purpose – They create a clear line of sight between the work of the individuals, the team and the larger company vision. Give feedback – They give timely and impactful feedback by emotionally investing themselves in the employee growth. Support career development- Follows a tailor made approach to suit the needs of each employee, guide and support them to grow into a better individual personally and professionally. Communicate effectively – Through open communication they inform, connect and engage team members. Try to first understand why your employees aren’t motivated They aren’t tied to the visionThey don’t know how their work has an impact on the big pictureThey aren’t clear on expectationsThey aren’t getting consistent feedbackThey don’t feel like a part of the teamTheir passions/strengths don’t align with the work they doThey don’t feel trustedThey are not good fit for the company cultureThey feel burnt out What makes you a bad manager ? Don’t micromanage – Micromanagement takes away the enthusiasm and energy from employees by creating the impression that they are not be trusted, valuable or even in control of their own projects. Don’t be a bully – Don’t publicly humiliate or privately threaten your employees. Don’t be a saboteur – Don’t take credit for others’ ideas and blame others while jobs are not done well. Give a fair share of recognition and appreciation to employees. The cost of a bad manager – Employees with a negative impression on their managers leave the company at the rate of 56% more than the usual. Okay, now, here are some really useful tips to handle a toxic work environment for employees who suffer under the influence of a bad manager! How to Handle a Toxic Environment ? Plan an exit strategy even if it is not tomorrow. Make plans to get the ball rolling. Keep your space positive– be it your desk, wall, cabinet or locker. Create a list to help you stay focused – this will help you to create a plan so as to avoid negative situations as much as possible. Leave work at work – leave the negative energy at work. Try to create healthy habits and routines along with coping methods to replenish your energy Keep a log of things that are happening – you might not know when you might need them as evidence, such as emails, screen shots etc., Stay away from the drama– don’t get swallowed up in the toxic energy. Talk to a trusted friend or co-worker about what’s going on, but don’t ever get caught up in the...

  Finding the right candidate to fill an open job position has always been a challenging task, and the fact that the monetary cost of a bad hire can reach up to 30% of the employer’s first-year earnings only adds to the pressure. During the process, you need to ensure that you attract, hire and retain the right talent, so that your company may reap the benefits of having a skilled, engaged and productive workforce, instead of suffering because of bad hiring choices. Fortunately, with all the advancements it brings, AI has also taken the world of recruitment by storm. Many HR experts now leverage AI-powered tools to help them locate and attract potential candidates, build meaningful relationships with high-profile applicants, and make smarter hire choices. Here are the four most important ways AI can assist in recruiting talent. 1. Attract Great Candidates One of the most significant challenges HR departments face is attracting skilled staff, as 87% of HR experts claim that there is a lack of qualified applicants for the positions they are trying to fill. However, the quality of your job applicants largely depends on the initial candidates you’ve attracted to your job posting. To get more applications that match your job posting, and fewer of those who are over- or under- qualified, your job description needs to represent what you’re looking for in candidates accurately. AI-powered tools, such as Textio, can help you come out with a perfect job description that is tailored to address the needs of your potential job candidates. This AI tool analyzes over 10 million job ads each month. Due to its extensive database, and NLP capabilities, Textio gives you suggestions on how to adjust your job description depending on your industry, and offers you alternatives that better match your target audience. If you sound better to your target candidates, you’ll attract more high-profile candidates from the talent pool. 2. Improve the Quality of Recruitment Even though we hate to admit it, the recruitment process is always biased. A study has found that people with no facial flaws are more likely to get a job. When certain imperfections exist, the attention of the job interviewers will mostly be focused on these facial differences, instead of on what the candidates are saying. AI can make the recruitment process unbiased, as it can help you determine objective criteria, and act on these criteria alone when narrowing down choices and making a selection. Besides, during an interview, AI can spot some other vital characteristics that the human eye can’t easily capture. For example, in an attempt to find perfect matches for their open positions, Unilever uses neuro-science based games, as well as facial expression analysis to assess their candidates’ personalities and honesty. After the interview, the algorithm comes up with a review of each candidate, making it much easier for the HR department to make a final selection. Learn the Art and Science of Resume and CV Writing – Job Search Skills, LinkedIn and Interview Skills all Included! 3. Provide Your Candidates With Better Experience The HR department can now successfully use conversational chatbots to engage with candidates during the recruitment phase, and significantly improve their experience with a potential employer. An AI chatbot can be used to answer candidates’ most common questions, to inform them about the status of their application, and update them on all the recent developments. Many companies don’t follow up with their top candidates after the interview, which severely damages their reputation and their chances of making the best hires. AI chatbots can be there to keep the communication lines with the top candidates open, showing them respect and...