4 Ways To Develop A Stronger Team

/in , /by

It can be argued that one of the most important parts of your role as an executive or leader of your company is the ability to manage a successful team. Your employees are your responsibility, and their success depends on whether you can get everyone working together and producing great work.

You’ll be glad to know that there are ways to develop a stronger team and make sure you’re all bonding on a regular basis. Doing this will help your company perform better, individual careers will take off, and everyone will be more satisfied to come to work each day. Above all, you should take your role seriously and put in the effort because your staff members depend on you to guide them.

Develop Your Skills

To lead your team effectively, you have to brush up on your skills and know what your strengths and weaknesses are. Work on yourself first before you try to develop and lead a team of people. You can do this through executive coaching sessions that will instantly improve your career. The team of qualified and experienced individuals who run the programs know exactly what to focus on to help you succeed. The better you are in your role and at your job, the easier it’ll be to create a strong team of employees.

Play To People’s Strengths

You should always delegate wisely and avoid giving assignments to just anyone because it’s faster and easier. To get the best out of your team, you should know who’s good at which tasks and what skills each person brings to the table. It will give you and your team a better chance of getting the work completed efficiently and correctly the first time. If you aren’t sure, then spend time getting to know each employee, analyze their abilities and how they handle the assignment you give them.

Schedule Teambuilding Activities

Your team will instantly become stronger when you participate in fun and exciting team building activities together. It’s not only about the work, but also how your employees interact and support each other. Mix it up and go out to eat one week and give them challenges to complete as a group. It’s vital to build camaraderie among your team as it’ll show positively in the work that’s performed in the office. You need your employees working together towards a common goal and not competing against each other to be the best in every situation.

Encourage Open Communication

Be an advocate for open communication between your team members. Remind them that they’re on the same side and should talk and help each other succeed. You should aim to create a positive environment that welcomes mistakes, as long as people are willing to discuss what went wrong and can learn from them. Make it clear that although you’re busy, your door is always open. Hold team meetings and let everyone have a chance to speak and bring up questions or concerns.

Don’t let your team fend for themselves. Step up and be a good boss by working on your skills and helping your employees deliver their best work. It’s never too late to make this your goal and improve the results you and your team are delivering to the company.

What to look for when hiring college graduates

/in , /by

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | What to look for when hiring college graduates

In business, hiring new recruits is crucial to success — they bring fresh thinking and can challenge the existing paradigms of your corporation. A steady stream of prospective employees is likely knocking on your door daily, and even more so around summer time when college and university students finish their final year.

As a recruitment officer, it’s your responsibility to bring in the talent. With so many resumes and applications to decipher, what should you look for, to ensure you interview — and ultimately hire — the best possible candidate?

Evidence of critical and strategic thinking

Use your application process to pose salient questions, requiring candidates to evidence strategic thinking and the ability to address both sides of an argument. You’re not so much looking for the individual’s ethics or values here, but their capacity to form and deliver their point of view in a creative and compelling way.

The ability to work in a team

An applicant’s college experience will illustrate if they are a team player — whether they played a team sport, or performed in college stage shows, you want employees who understand and respect the significance of working together towards a shared goal.

Look for specialized degrees

Most resumes include an abundance of experience, however, you need to learn how to filter out what isn’t relevant and focus on what is useful. While many people will mention all their experiences, if someone only has leadership skills as a secondary skillset and no actual qualification in this area, then you may have to find someone else who does have the qualifications you’re looking for.

If you feel you need more information, then research the institution where they received their further education. While some colleges offer a multitude of degrees, some colleges have a more focused curriculum, so their students can specialize in certain fields. For instance, if you’re looking for a new head teacher, then someone who has studied at NEC (New England College) and undergone a Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) could have more honed in leadership skills than someone who didn’t.

Resilience

‘Resilience’ is defined as the ability to withstand the pressures of college life, and emerging positive and ready into the professional world. You want to build your company around people who thrive under pressure, rather than falter.

Interpersonal skills, if relevant to your business niche

Not all professions require advanced social skills — indeed, businesses in Silicon Valley are famously seeing past prejudices and assumptions, to hire individuals on the autistic spectrum in their computer technology and software development teams.

However, if the ability to work collaboratively is pivotal to your work then you’ll want to test prospective employees on this skill. Building upon evidence of team and relationship prowess, use the interview to pose challenging questions to delve further — “Tell me about a time you’ve had to manage conflict in a study group?” or “You’ve seen that a friend is going through a bad time, how would you intervene to help?” are both revealing questions to ask.

Unique & Creative Employee Incentives You Could Be Offering

/in /by

Everyone who is a part of a business expects to work for a company who cares. It’s one of the very basic needs of an employee, that they are treated well and rightly so. There is an increasingly competitive marketplace for top talent out there and companies are desperate to recruit people who have charisma, brains and talent for the role that they work in. Due to the need to attract the top talent, the standard salary/pension/overtime benefits are no longer enough.

An employer who is caring about their employees needs to think outside the box. When you need cash fast for your business because you decide an impromptu meal out for your team is needed, you would do everything you can to get it purely to show your gratitude for the work that they put in. To that end, as a good employer you are expected to go above and beyond for your employees in the same way they will for you. Check out our unique incentives to keep your employees excited to be working with you.

Travel. Everyone loves a trip, and if you can incentivise that those who hit their personal and professional development goals a paid sabbatical to travel, people will be flocking to your doors, resume in hand. Employee burnout is a real issue in a world where we put a lot of pressure on our people and giving people a break – a paid break – is a great way to say thank you.

Staff Lotto. Having a staff lottery every week is an exciting way to generate office buzz and camaraderie. You can generate real prizes by matching the ticket money that the staff bring together, and then add smaller prizes for more staff.

Savings. Your staff may be appreciative of the idea that you could help them to save money. If you offer the chance to speak to the company’s financial adviser, as well as exciting employee discounts, your staff will know you are trying to do more for them.

Duvet Days. A business has to keep running, we all know that, but offering a flexible duvet day system is a great way for your employees to take paid personal days last minute. This avoids bogus sick days and employee burnout, while allowing your staff to feel like they matter.

Flexible Working. Offering your staff the chance to work from home is the ultimate carrot dangled in front of a prospective staff member. People lead busy lives and if you give them a chance to be able to attend family events and doctor’s appointments around their work, you are going to gain a lot of respect from people.

Offering incentives has to be a big part of your budget. Keeping a strong working capital in the account for last minute meals and fun nights out can mean that you are solvent and covered when it’s a time for celebration. Give your staff a reason to want to work for you and you’ll benefit from their loyalty.

5 Practical Ways to Increase Staff Productivity

/in , /by

Every business owner’s dream is to have a team of staff that are highly productive, as this contributes to their success as a business. The reality, however, is that people don’t tend to run on one hundred percent productivity one hundred percent of the time. Luckily, you can still reach a level of productivity that meets your standard if you put a few measures in place. It will require demystifying your staff and for you to figure out what motivates them and how to keep that momentum going on a daily basis. To figure this out, you’ll have to engage in a bit of trial and error and then find what works best for you. Below we discuss five practical ways to increase staff productivity.

Show You Care

One of the ways that you can attempt to improve staff productivity is by showing them that you care about their wellbeing. It may come as a shock to you, or perhaps not so much, to know that a recent survey carried out by the NPD Group found that at least 31 million Americans don’t bother eating breakfast in the morning. Seeing as breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day, your staff skipping breakfast could result in them having decreased levels of energy and being less able to concentrate. It will ultimately affect their productivity and how well they perform at work. A solution to this problem could be providing free fruit, bread rolls, and tea or coffee every morning if your budget will accommodate it. It should give staff the boost they need to start the day off on the right note and help increase their output. Try and see if you can get a grocery store or restaurant to deliver fresh fruit and bread every morning. You could also get the office secretary or assistant to look for Office Coffee Deals that deliver. Staff should appreciate this for the most part, or at least have something to look forward to every morning.

Offer Support

You usually hire an employee because they seem to be knowledgeable and suitable for the advertised role and have been able to pass the assessment given to them impressively. It, however, doesn’t mean that they won’t need support throughout the time they’re working for you. Consider supporting your staff by providing them with opportunities to progress such as dedicated training to help them perform better if you can afford to squeeze it into your budget. There is a tendency for organizations to focus on training for people in leadership positions. However, staff who are at the incipient stages of their career may need it more. Other ways to support your staff include giving them flexibility, so they have time to de-stress and don’t feel overworked. You could also think about replacing old equipment so they can work better and be understanding when they’re enduring work-related or personal issues. This kind of support is a way to build trust and loyalty amongst your staff.

Give Feedback

You can’t always control the way people will react to criticism. However, ensuring that it’s constructive could go a long way in improving employee productivity. It is a management skill to understand each employee’s unique personality and be able to find a way to provide feedback in a way that encourages and motivates them. Also, make a note to give feedback as regularly as possible and ensure it is detailed enough as well as balanced. Let them know areas in which they’re excelling as well as where they need to improve. Take the time to find out what their challenges are, and again, what support you can offer to help.

Offer Incentives

Offering incentives and rewarding good behavior might help increase work productivity. Not only does it make people feel good when they’re recognized and rewarded for achieving, but it also gives them something to look forward to. Common incentives you can try are bonuses for those who meet targets or free coupons to enjoy some form of entertainment. You could also try gift vouchers at stores that you think they’re likely to shop at. Explore different incentives and see which works best to encourage staff to be more productive. Better still, it might be a good idea to conduct a survey and simply ask staff their preferences. Bear in mind, that incentives alone most likely won’t give you long-term results for increasing productivity. Combining incentives with the opportunity to grow and feel like a valued part of the work community should create more long-lasting results.

Don’t be too strict

Putting too many restrictions in place at an office can make employees feel like they’re working in a jail. While it may be helpful in increasing productivity, it can likewise be counterproductive as it may affect their enthusiasm towards work. An example of this is imposing internet restrictions in the office. There is a plethora of valuable information on the internet in this day and age, and on social networks too. You may then find that allowing them to be free to browse and visit social media may help spark their creativity or give them a wider variety of information. It could improve their work productivity, especially if you’re in the media or digital marketing industry or your company has social media platforms. It is understandable that you don’t want your staff spending valuable office hours liking their friend’s pictures. Remember, however, that staff can be unproductive even with all of the restrictions in place.

To increase productivity, you have to think of ways to create an environment that your staff enjoy being in. Although people have different reasons for joining an organization, they’re more than likely to give it their best when they feel its adding value to their lives. This value could be in the form of money, support, and personal development as well as feeling like they’re a part of something significant. Hopefully, these tips help improve productivity, and you’ll have a happy owner and happy employees.  Ultimately, the most productive people are those who feel deeply connected to the work they do and what it contributes to society.

How Time and Attendance Software Can Improve Your Business

/in , /by

Effectively managing your business (and most importantly, your employees) makes for a happy, healthy, successful working environment. This in turn generates more revenue. Every business owner knows this – but how is it achieved?

It may be the last thing that springs to mind, but using time and attendance software is proven to have a multitude of benefits for both employer and employee. It increases employee security, ensures fairness, and makes everything so much easier for bosses, managers and HR departments to keep track of.

Find out here the several ways that bringing in this software could help your business run smoothly and improve employee satisfaction.

1. Keep Track of Working Hours

See an accurate timesheet for every employee at a glance, all on your computer screen. No more quibbling about lateness and how much overtime somebody is owed.

Attendance software will show you the exact time, to the minute, that a specific worker signed in and logged out for the day. This way, they can be accurately paid. Everyone feels secure when they know they’re being paid fairly; increasing job satisfaction substantially. The clever software also ensures your employees are paid precisely on time – another big plus.

2. Create Employee Timesheets

Many companies use timesheets to track how much time each person spends on each project, and therefore helps the bosses to calculate how much money is spent and made per project.

Use timesheet software to track the time of your employees and gain the most accurate account of what expenditure is going where. Without doing this, you could be spending way over your budget on minor projects, and undercharging clients. You can also see which employees are doing the most profitable work, and who deserves a pat on the back.

3. Easily Allocate Work

Instantly allocate and delegate work amongst employees in the most efficient fashion. Using your software, everyone can see exactly which projects you’d like them to work on, and who they’ll be working with. You can set precisely the amount of time you’d like them to spend on it, and how much budget is set aside for it. Simple!

You’ll wonder how you ever worked without it. This method hopefully removes the need for lengthy group emails and unnecessary meetings. (Of course, you still need those – but having lots per week whittles down the time your employees spend on projects.)

4. Save Time and Money

No more paper schedules, and spending hours trying to make fiddly timetables with Excel. This software saves you the money of printing off loads of paper and buying heaps of files, and lets you keep the time and money spent doing that for more important things. The saying is true – time equals money!

5. Streamline Your HR Team

Can you imagine the simplicity of this software for your HR team? They no longer need to go around chasing people for information about their accurate working hours, expenses, overtime, holiday, sick days, etcetera. It makes their job far easier, and therefore yours.

Their time is now free to go about conducting interviews and sorting necessary paperwork rather than sending frantic emails and running around the office. This one handy piece of software helps to streamline every part of your business.

6. Eliminates Pay Errors

We’re only human – and with that comes inevitable human errors. Within businesses, there are always times when someone feels they have been wrongly paid; whether they turn out to be right or wrong.

With employee time tracking software, this will never happen. All hours are calculated to the minute, meaning everyone gets paid exactly what they’re owed.

7. It is Mobile Optimised

We’re not always in the office, working at our screens. Most businesses require employees to leave the normal work station every so often, and go out for client meetings or other business matters.

Time and attendance software developers know this, and so have created their products to work on mobile and other devices. This way, even if you’re out of office, you can update your timesheet with the touch of a button.