Category: Human Resource

Employee motivation is important in today’s business climate. Company managers need to find great employees. Good employees can offer the skills companies need to flourish. Great companies can offer them something even more special. Company officials also need to find ways to motivate them and get them to use their personal and professional talents successfully each day, week and quarter.

Varied Rewards

Employees respond to many types of rewards. An employer should think about a broad mixture of rewards that encourage people to do well on the job and develop their skills in other ways such as earning an advanced degree. They may also want to think about specific goals that each company has for the market it serves. For example, the company may be seeking to look for new sales markets locally. A company manager or business owner might also want to do five or ten percent better than the previous year. Employees who are given the rewards they need to feel like valued members of the team are employees who are likely to help the company reach goals.

Teamwork For Today’s Market

Teamwork can serve to motivate employees and promote bonding. When people feel connected with others at work, they feel they matter and mean something to other people in a personal way. One way to create a sense of teamwork is by participating in sports. Sports like golf encourage many important qualities as well as teamwork. When a team wins a golf trophy, each member of the team has a sense they’ve done something quite special.

New Ways of Thinking

Sports also help people learn to think strategically and see where they’ll be over time. They encourage people to get outside and enjoy the fresh air with colleagues in a low key setting. They also encourage people to become physically fit. Physical fitness can help reduce the company’s health costs and decrease employee absenteeism. People who are physically fit can also spend more hours on the job with clients and remain sharp mentally as well as physically. Sports can also make people feel accomplished. Being part of a sports team also helps employees network closely with others.

In Front of Other Employees

Many other types of rewards also provide a way to meet employer goals and get the job done. People tend to respond to monetary rewards as well as rewards that demonstrate a sense of accomplishment in front of other employees and in front of HR managers. For example, an employee dinner means an opportunity to honor many employees at the same time. A catered formal dinner also offers people an opportunity to have their accomplishments recognized beyond the bounds of their current department. Catered dinners with music and great food in front of an employee’s family create wonderful time outside of work for everyone in the community.

Moving Up

An employee may be seeking to move within the company’s ranks from one division to another. By showcasing their talents in front of the entire company, they are given the chance to learn about other possible opportunities. They’re also given the chance to become a mentor for new employees. Mentoring is a great way to communicate work culture directly and help keep important institutional memories alive. People who can demonstrate they’ve learned new skills are also those who are likely to continue to remain loyal to the company. Company loyalty helps create less turnover and thus helps to reduce the company’s hiring costs. It also helps create happy employees who want to make this organization their personal career.

A Fabulous Culture of Recognition

Rewards help people feel as if the work they do has meaning and value. It also helps make employees feel tied to the company and invested in seeing it succeed. Company managers who are able to think about how best to reward employees are those who are likely to see continued growth. A rich mixture of varied company rewards can also help create a culture that recognizes individual achievement and makes employees recommend working there to others. Employees can frequently provide the employer with other employees who are capable of doing a good job as well. They can serve as valuable company ambassadors for the company’s brands.

 

How happy are your employees? The answer to that question can determine how productive they are and how much revenue your business brings in.

Through hundreds of studies researchers have found that happiness begets success, not the other way around. Employees that feel happy at work are more productive, creative and motivated. There’s such a strong correlation that it’s now being dubbed the “happiness advantage”.

The problem – only 47.7% of employees are happy, and a Staples study of small businesses found that over half of employees feel overworked. It’s time to turn those frowns upside down and give your business a serious boost with a few happiness-inducing additions.

An Office Entertainment Space

There’s a reason why watching television is America’s number one pastime – people enjoy it. Creating an entertainment area where employees can unwind is an effective way to boost happiness. All it takes is adding a few comfortable seats, mounting a flat screen TV.

Free Snacks

A recent survey from Peapod revealed that offices that offered free snacks and drinks had happier employees. Stocking up on healthy snacks can also help employees avoid brain fatigue. Research from Florida State University has shown that as people make decisions throughout the day glucose levels decrease and mental fatigue sets in. A snack can bump up the glucose levels and restore energy reserves.

Flexible Scheduling

Creating flex schedules may take a little effort at the beginning, but once a system is set in place this is an easy way to make employees much happier. Study after study shows that employees who are given the freedom to work from home are more productive. There are a number of reasons, including less break time and sick leave, but happiness is also a factor. Another residual benefit is that employees who have more control over when and where they work are less likely to quit.

Give Praise Often

Positive feedback on a regular basis has proven to keep employees happier than less frequent, grander forms of praise. Small words of encouragement and signs of appreciation once a week are enough to keep employees happy and motivation all year long.

Create a Meditation Room

Meditating for just two minutes can provide benefits for the brain and body. Up that to 20 minutes of meditation and the benefits are far greater. Researchers from Harvard found that meditating for 20 minutes a day decreases stress while increasing focus, productivity and creativity. Any space can work for meditating as long as it’s quiet and free of distractions.

Encourage Breaks

Half of employees in small companies feel like they can’t step away to take breaks during work. Burn out is going to make even the best employees disgruntle from time to time. Taking breaks during the workday has been shown to increase productivity and can significantly improve happiness. Encouraging employees to take breaks is often enough to help them avoid burn out and unnecessary stress. Bonus: when employees take breaks they socialize, which can make them even happier and fosters teamwork.

Do Away With the Majority of Emails

Employees get bombarded with emails these days. It creates stress and is cited as a reason for always feeling like they are “on” even when they aren’t at work. Not to mention it can significantly hinder productivity. Make an effort to reduce the number of emails that are sent out to employees. It’s also a good idea to create a prioritization system for emails. Come up with designators like “URGENT” that can be used in the subject line so employees feel less pressured to open everything immediately.

Surprise Employees With Special Treats

Surprises make more of a mental impact because they aren’t expected. Surprising employees with lunch every now and then or giving everyone a few hours off one afternoon will dramatically improve everyone’s mood. These nice surprises make employees happier and also help to offset the occasional bad news.

Your employees are the most valuable asset of your business. These eight simple strategies will help ensure that they are as satisfied and productive as possible, which makes everyone happy.

As countless studies have shown, there is more to work than money. As strange as this might sound, this is something that a lot of research has shown; employees are motivated by a lot of things, and money is quite far down the list.

As the title of today’s post might have suggested, we are going to take a look at some of the other ways which can motivate employees. With some sources suggesting that revenue can increase by as much as half with a motivated workforce, it stands to reason that this is a hugely important subject for business leaders to get their heads around.

The importance of recognition

It sounds basic, but let’s start with the premise of recognition. Whether it’s simply complimenting an employee on their work, or handing out physical employee awards, making an individual feel as though their work is valued is something that is especially important in modern-day business.

Recognition doesn’t have to just exist in some businesses either. For example, the sales industry was commonly associated with recognition, usually with leader boards and cash incentives. Nowadays, rewards are commonplace in every industry, and tailored accordingly.

In fact, some companies will even have recognition stand-ups. This involves a department naming a person who has contributed a lot over the past few weeks, or days, depending on the pace of the industry you are involved in.

Understand that each employee is different

This is something that a lot of companies, and people for that matter, fail to grasp. Just because some forms of motivation work for some workers, doesn’t mean to say that they are going to work for others.

For example, something that might be important to one worker might be flexible hours. Another, on the other hand, might have his or her mind fixed purely on professional development. As such, these employees would react completely differently depending on the reward on offer.

The open door policy

Something else that has been proven to act as a motivator in the modern-day business world is simple manners. That’s right, if senior management address their workers in the same way in which they do everyone else, it immediately makes all feel as though they have a voice worth listening to.

Give everyone a purpose

Another key motivator is every employee having a purpose. One of the big problems that a lot of employees have is that they don’t feel as though they fit into a business. In their eyes, their role is small and this means that they don’t feel as though they have a purpose in the company.

This is something that you need to change. Each employee needs to understand that their role, regardless of how small it is, has an impact on the business. Some companies will educate them by showing them figures from their area of the business, and how this corresponds to the total turnover. If employees can learn to understand their role, they can immediately feel as though they have a purpose with their job.

Nowadays, not many leaders can make a business exemplary successful. To have proper leadership skills, you have to have a strategic approach to managing your employees. The way you handle workers can determine the path of your business. Handling the employees does not necessarily mean that you should act tough. You should be a leader who does not believe that things can only run smoothly according to your own opinions. It is worth listening to the opinions of your workers and share ideas to come up with a solution for a particular problem. The association with the workers shows that you care, and you are conversant with the challenges that the employees go through during work. Some techniques you can use to motivate the employees are;

1. Make the Office a Comfortable Place to be

Here, it is worth noting that no single person wants to spend the entire day in a weird place. Try to make the place of work as attractive as possible and functional. People want to be in a place with features that attractive to the eyes. Make sure the machines are in the right place at the right time and are up to date and function properly. No person wants to come in the morning to start the day with the stress of some old piece of a computer that will take longer to open. Making the place neat does not mean expensive things. Fetch some interesting modern pieces of equipment and engage a local artist to spice up your place with designs.

2. Be an Honest, Respectful, and Supportive Leader 

Self-respect is one character that makes everybody honor you. This virtue will follow with respecting, being honest, supportive, and always communicate properly with your employees. To be a great manager and to capture the attention of your workers, you should show that you are on the same page when it comes to working. These values are simple but can make your workers run away. If you are learning the management role, you can learn various management skills from knowledgeable materials like books and journals. Proper management will take practice.

3. Offer Rewards to the Employees 

If you want to keep your employees in the business, you should offer some rewards to recognize a job well done. Many people will need a reason to stay working for you. Come up with some incentive programs to motivate the employees. Come up with something like offering home insurance, accidental car insurance, giving health benefits, or sharing of profit. Therefore, when people have a reason to compete, you make sure everything runs smoothly and increase profitability. Insurances add up fast and times the number of employees it can be very expensive. So make sure to use comparison websites like for car insurance quotes and find the best rates.

4. Make some Room for Growth of the Employees 

For a faster growth of your business, the employees should grow at the same pace. You should cultivate the psychological factors to make the workers feel much entrusted with the management of the business. Also, you should show respect for the work done. When opening a branch of your business in a different location, look for the most appropriate employees to manage and conduct all the operations. For the other individuals who are doing an exemplary good job, you can offer higher roles to make workers feel respected and confident about the undertaking.

5. Share Positive Information 

When you know that you did a good job, it is enough motivational factor to make you feel wanting to continue doing the work again. As a good manager, when the customers give positive feedback about a commodity, make a point of notifying the employees during the meetings. You should make sure other workers witnesses the congratulatory messages for a challenge in working even harder. When you push a good feeling to the employees, you send a message inside the heart that establishes connectivity with the business.

6. Learn to be Transparent 

When you let the employees learn about how the business is growing, workers will feel like part of the company. Share with the workers the important details about sales, number of new customers, and every undertaking of the company. Sharing information about the development of the company can help point out areas requiring improvement.

7. Provide Flexible Scheduling 

With the modern technology, many companies are changing the working procedure. Workers want to get the freedom of working at any place. Many workers want to complete projects from the comfort of the home. More than 80 percent of businesses are providing these kinds of flexibilities. Thus, if you want to attract top talents and many employees, you should provide chances to have a flexible schedule and time.

8. Provide Food in the Workplace

A simple rule is that you cannot concentrate on your work when you are hungry. If you want to motivate your employees, give them food to their satisfaction. Feeding a large number of people may not be an easy task, but it is worth the effort. Giving out food shows that you value and appreciate the work of the employees. The act shows that you do not only care about what the workers can do for the firm, but you have an interest in the physical well-being of your work forces. Offering food can open up opportunities for your business when the employees endorse your place as the right one to get a job. Thus, attracting more workers.

9. Distinguish the Employees’ Achievements

Everybody feels good when appreciated for complete work. As a good leader, you should learn to appreciate workers who spend much time doing various business projects. Whether it is a co-worker helping a colleague, take your time to show appreciation whether as a team or calling an employee privately. Different studies show that many employees experience a lot of enjoyment when shown appreciation. Thus, the workers feel the need to continue working even harder. It is a great achievement for the business to maintain a worker for a long time. Also, keeping the workers motivated in the trying times is a tough task. When workers spend much time in your business, the management becomes more comfortable since the employees know every part of the company.

When you start looking for HR solutions to improve how your organisation operates, you’ll soon find how many HR software options are out there. Since nothing is free in the world of business, you don’t want to end up spending money on products that don’t maximise your HR potential. So, how to pick? Is there one HR software to rule them all?

Human Resource Management Software comes in all shapes and sizes. Finding the one that fits your organisation can seem tricky but it can be done. The main thing is to stay focused on the big picture while looking after the small details.

Here are the two key things to focus on when finding your HR software and making sure it provides your business with the right benefits.

Focus on identifying your needs

You have to examine HR software vendors carefully and compare those services with your needs. The most important areas of focus should be:

• Product capabilities
• Usability of the software
• User experience of the software
• Additional functionalities and their cost
• Security of the software
• Storage options
• Analytics tools
• Customer support

These are the most common areas of focus, although you might want to consider other additional factors as well. The key is to focus on what you actually need and want from the software and to find a vendor that matches those.

In terms of Human Resource Management Software, it’s good to note how most of them now offer cloud-based services. This is important and practical. So always opt for a vendor that has cloud-based solutions on offer.

It’s important to pay attention to these different types of software options. If you’ve not used HR software before or you are perplexed by all the fancy things available, you should consider asking a professional vendor for help. Having a better understanding of the different options will help you know just what you need.

Integrate your new HR software with your existing systems

Needs are important in terms of finding the right software but issues around integration come close in importance. The data revolution has meant that any organisation that wants to succeed must utilise a lot of data – and this can mean trouble for integration.

When selecting Human Resource Management Software, you have to ensure the chosen product allows you to integrate your new and existing systems. Now, integration is not just about software compatibility. In fact, you also have to:

• Integrate your HR KPIs with wider business objectives. Use software system that allows you to link the HR KPIs (employee performance) with business KPIs (sales numbers). This will make tracking your ROI easier.
• Integrate your data collection. Your chosen Human Resource Management Software should gather information from a variety of sources, from phones to e-mail conversations.

Integration is the key to software success and if you get it right, you’ll see performance improve overall. When picking your vendor, your focus should be on finding something that makes integration efficient and useful.

One HR software to rule them all?

But you might be feeling impatient, and you might feel like the above tips and points are just too much work. The truth is that finding the right Human Resource Management Software won’t happen overnight and you do need to put in the effort.

However, comparing and reading reviews can act as a shortcut. Knowing what other small businesses think of the software is beneficial. There is a reason for certain products winning awards and being top sellers.

You still have to know one truth about HR software and that is that there isn’t a single product that rules them all. The bottom line is that the effectiveness of your chosen Human Resource Management Software will always depend on your organisational needs. Those needs can be met in various ways so you have to do the groundwork and find the right business.

Having proper HR software is essential and it will help your business to succeed. Good software will not just boost the bottom line but in the process, it will also help improve employee engagement and your service.

So, make use of the above tips and find an HR solution that works for you and you organisation!