How to Prevent Context Switching in Remote Work

Unfocused employees are less productive, so it’s in your best interest to prevent this behavior in the workplace. 

Here are 10 ways to prevent context switching in remote work and beyond.

1. Map Out Your Workflow

The fastest way to prevent context switching is with a competent workflow. When employees know exactly what to do and when to do it, they won’t feel the need to start and stop. A mapped out workflow also reduces the number of questions your team has to ask before getting started.

The best workflows leave no stone unturned. They follow a step-by-step process that includes every process and subprocess, deliverables, and anything else required to complete the project.

2. Break Tasks into Chunks

Most projects involve multiple deliverables, but if your workflow doesn’t reflect this, it can intimidate employees. Breaking a major project or task into smaller, more manageable chunks makes it easier for teams to focus on one element at a time without feeling overwhelmed.

A task management tool can help avoid context switching due to fatigue. Check out this this top 12 task management software list if you need a more intuitive way to organize tasks. 

3. Prioritize Important Deadlines

Team members may be forced to switch tasks because a project suddenly became a high priority. It’s okay to do this once in a while, but you’ll want a strict workflow most of the time. This makes it easier for remote employees to tackle projects as they come rather than by priority.

Don’t take on more projects than your employees can handle. If a client asks for a rush order, consider your team’s workload before accepting it. Alternatively, you could hire a crisis team.

4. Hire a Remote “Crisis Team”

Crisis teams can be made up of remote employees who tackle high priority tasks. When they’re free, they can help with low priority projects, but shouldn’t take an active role. That way, they’ll have enough free time to focus on demanding tasks, preventing context switching in your team.

Employers should try to prepare for the inevitable. If your company constantly takes on priority projects, it should have enough employees to deliver them within a reasonable time frame.

5. Set Reasonable Goals Everyday

Employees may feel pressured to switch tasks when their goals don’t align with their current assignments. For example, when a salesperson has to stop canvassing because there’s no guarantee it’ll make a sale. It makes more sense to align assignments with employment goals.

Since we know canvassing will eventually lead to a sale, employers can encourage salespeople to speak to 10 people a day. If they hit this goal daily, they have 50 chances to make a sale.

6. Don’t Multitask or Switch Focus

Despite popular belief, very few people can multitask effectively. A study of 200 participants found that only 2.5% showed no performance decrements when performing single and dual tasks. It’s time to put the myth to rest that humans can focus on more than one thing at a time.

Employers should never encourage staff to switch projects unless they’ll be focusing on that one task for a while. Otherwise, you’ll spread your staff too thin and slow down team progress.

7. Encourage Health and Wellness

According to a survey of remote working Americans, 60% of employees feel guilty about taking breaks during work-from-home hours. However, breaks make us more productive and prevent context switching when we’re losing steam. Breaks are good for our health and wellness.

While employers should encourage breaks, they must also stress the positives of sleep, healthy eating, and exercise. Sitting at the computer all day can disrupt our physical health and focus.

8. Manage Stress Through Self-Care

Poor mental health can really disrupt our focus, and stress can cause us to feel overwhelmed and unenthusiastic about work. Employers should suggest incorporating simple stress-relieving activities during the day, such as journal writing, meditation, and yoga exercises when remote.

If you’re noticing your employees are becoming more stressed, consider leading by example. Say that you like to go for a quick walk or nap after a meeting to clear your head or unwind.

9. Encourage Communication

Context switching may happen when an employee doesn’t know how to start a project or has questions about certain deliverables. It’s impossible to prevent context switching in a workplace that doesn’t encourage communication, as workers will be too confused or scared to act.

When employees can ask questions (and receive quick responses in return), they can stay focused on their tasks. If workers are afraid to speak up, assess why as soon as possible.

10. Record Progress via Surveys

Your employees may be too scared to admit they’re being unproductive, even when it isn’t their fault. Anonymous surveys can give employees the space to be honest while also giving you the data you need to improve your business. For this to work, you need to ask specific questions.

Asking why your remote workers are unproductive is too vague. Instead, give them a list of reasons why productivity may be an issue, ranging from their location to a poor workflow.

The post How To Prevent Context Switching In Remote Work appeared first on Small Business Coach.

There are more than a few ways that you can help energize and support your service staff during this bustling time. But we’ve gathered up five of the best approaches that have worked for managers and business leaders time and time again.

1. Custom Patches

It sounds like something small, but we assure you that great things come in small packages. Empowering your service staff to customize their appearance with custom patches can boost morale by giving them more control.

It works even if your staff wears a uniform. Uniforms have proven benefits, and 50% of businesses employ them. But for workers who want to express their individuality, giving them the power with something subtle but creative is a great idea.

2. Weekly or Bi-Monthly Meetings

Communication is key to every thriving workplace. So much so that research has shown that faulty communication is a primary inhibitor of productivity and success in business.

If your staff is fighting or being insubordinate toward management, and if customers are complaining that they seem sad and combative, chances are they don’t feel heard. You can change that easily by instituting regular staff meetings.

Staff meetings are crucial for many reasons: clarifying shared goals, hashing out conflict, and ensuring everyone feels heard and supported. That last one is extra important. Giving your service staff the space to speak and showing them you listen will work wonders for morale and energy.

3. Post-Work Bonding

If the problem seems to be that your service staff haven’t bonded enough among themselves, encourage them to bond outside of work. That will promote lasting relationships that will strengthen the way they work together.

But here’s one important tip: don’t go with them. No one likes a boss that tries to be friends with their employees. Trust us. They’ll adore you if you back away and simply treat them well. But if you try to be their friend, a whole host of things could go wrong!

4. Flexibility for Time Off Requests

You should encourage your staff to take meaningful time off, not just reluctantly grant their requests. Of course, there are limits to generosity, and work should come as a priority. But no one on staff should feel like asking for time off to go to the doctor or pick up their kids is asking for the world.

5. Gamify Important Tasks

For more complex tasks that no one will willingly take on themselves, inject some fun and competition to get people excited. “Gamify” essential tasks by making them a competition over who can sell the most product or get the most customers to leave positive reviews.

Treat Employees Like Human Beings

You don’t have to treat them like your family or friends. Because guess what? They aren’t! Don’t force any false warmth or closeness onto your employees – just remember they are human beings and treat them with the respect and decency they deserve.

The post 5 Ways You Can Energize Your Service Staff appeared first on Small Business Coach.

Additionally, employees must feel employers hear their voices and value their suggestions. An environment of trust and mutual respect is also essential for fostering productivity. 

Here are some more tips on encouraging employee productivity and enhancing your small business.

Monitor remote employees

While some challenges come with managing a remote team, there are also some benefits. As more and more businesses move towards remote work, it’s becoming increasingly important to know how to monitor remote employees effectively. 

The ability to attract top talent from all around the world is one of the most significant benefits of remote work. With a remote team, you don’t have to hire employees who live in your area. Remote work gives you a much larger pool of potential candidates.

Another benefit of remote work is that it can help reduce costs for your business. You can save a lot of money without office space or equipment. Additionally, remote employees are often more productive and take fewer sick days.

To monitor those remote employees, use screen monitoring software. This software allows you to track your employees’ online activities in real-time during working hours. Screen monitoring can help ensure that employees are working on their assigned tasks and not wasting time on personal activities.

Encourage self-development at work

Encouraging self-development at work can have many benefits for both employees and employers. When workers feel that their employer is interested in helping them grow and develop their skills, they are more likely to be motivated and engaged in their work.

Improved self-development can lead to increased productivity and creativity, as well as improved morale and job satisfaction. Employers who encourage self-development end up having a more skilled and adaptable workforce, which can be a significant asset in today’s ever-changing business landscape. 

Here are some tips to encourage self-development at work:

• Develop a clear and concise plan for each employee outlining what you expect of them and what they need to improve.
• Encourage employees to take on new responsibilities and challenge themselves.
• Hold regular performance reviews and development meetings with employees to discuss their progress and goal.
• Offer training and development opportunities to employees.
• Provide feedback to employees on their performance.

A personal development plan for work can help your employees set and achieve goals, identify areas for improvement, and track their progress over time. You can create a more engaged, productive, and successful workforce by investing in your employees’ personal development.

Establish clear goals and objectives

Setting clear goals and objectives is critical to improving employee productivity. Without a clear sense of what you expect, employees will likely become frustrated and less engaged in their work. By communicating expectations upfront and providing regular feedback, managers can help employees stay focused and motivated.

Employees are more likely to be productive when they feel that their efforts align with the company’s goals. Establishing clear goals and objectives is key to improving employee productivity and engagement.

Here are some tips to help you with establishing goals and objectives as a small business owner:

• Create a written business plan that outlines your company’s goals and objectives.
• Share your goals and objectives with your employees and ensure everyone is on the same page.
• Communicate your goals and objectives to your customers and clients.
• Evaluate your progress regularly and make necessary adjustments to ensure that you are on the right track.

Ask and provide regular feedback

It’s crucial to provide regular feedback to ensure employee productivity. This feedback can be in the form of performance reviews, one-on-one meetings, or simply informal conversations. The goal is to be clear, concise, and honest.

Providing feedback will help employees understand what they’re doing well and where they can improve. Additionally, regular feedback will help to keep employees on track and motivated.

Also, asking for feedback from time to time will help your employees be more effective. Requesting feedback will help you identify any areas where they may be struggling and help address them accordingly.

Besides, employees may have suggestions for improving productivity in the workplace. You can create a more positive and productive work environment by soliciting this knowledge from your employees.

Final thoughts 

The most productive employees in small businesses are those who feel invested in the company’s success and understand their role in achieving it. When employees feel like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves, they are more likely to go above and beyond to ensure the company’s success.

By creating a working environment where employees feel valued and appreciated, small businesses can produce a culture of productivity that will help them achieve their goals. Implementing the above methods can result in a noticeably more productive workforce, so there’s no excuse not to start making changes today.

The post 4 Tips for Encouraging Employee Productivity in Your Small Business appeared first on Small Business Coach.

We live in a world where we are always looking at a second or even third screen. When Scandal’s season finale airs, we will be tweeting and updating our fantasy football page. Visual multitasking is becoming a more prevalent practice as mobile devices and tablets become more widely available. Splitting our focus is becoming more and more common in our modern lives.

Can corporate TV be utilized to increase corporate communication in the present era? Even if you are not working in a newspaper, it is unnecessary to have 30 televisions shouting all the current events you can get your hands on, unless, of course, this is your job. A break room or lobby is ideal since you may choose whether or not to tune in or out at any given time. Ensure you look for different communication strategies to enhance internal communication in your business. In light of this, let’s look at the role of corporate TV in modern internal communication: 

Facilitating involvement and productivity in the workplace with corporate TV

When it comes to keeping your workers interested and informed, it doesn’t matter whether you are a small start-up with only five employees or a global organization with thousands of employees throughout the globe. On the other hand, corporate television will accomplish the job for you.

Employees are 20-25% more productive when they feel valued and engaged, which in turn increases your business’s productivity and profitability. Communication is a significant predictor of work satisfaction. Your workers will get more value for their money if you use corporate TVs to display digital signage. It is essential to show your staff what is going on at work, both in their own office and firm.

Understanding the company culture 

Even though internal marketing is not as well-understood as external marketing, it is critical. You must communicate your company’s goals, goods, and services to your staff, not only to your consumers. Employees that know and can sell your company’s products and services are a need. It would help if you also had them be aware of your company’s core principles. It will allow you to convert your brand’s personality into the conduct of your employees.

Many businesses still use the tried-and-true tactics of posters and emails for advertising. However, many workers’ email inboxes are being bombarded with spam, which means many emails are being unread. They might also be read then promptly discarded after the recipient has moved to the next email in their inbox. Solution: Stream critical information to displays in your frequently visited areas utilizing digital signage software and corporate television. It is the most excellent method to ensure that your staff gets the information they need to succeed in the digital world.

Streamlining communication between employees with corporate TV

If you want to make important news to your company’s employees, consider how you may do it. You send an email and a meeting to the whole business, yet someone always misses it. Even if you are able to catch up to this guy, you will throw off the operations of your entire team. If you are looking for a way to get people’s attention and share information quickly, corporate TV is an excellent choice.

Passing announcements and notices

You may use a corporate TV instead of a notice board to show critical messages and announcements. With digital signage, you may show department-specific information if you have many departments or offices in your firm. Companies often conduct ice-breaking activities to improve communication amongst workers, but their involvement is required to make that happen.

Displaying employee benefit programs via corporate TV

Ensure workers know your company’s benefits, such as Employee Assistance Programs and Training courses. The display screen should include employee benefits packages to pick the workers’ attention. They are more likely to join if they discover a program that might help them advance their careers, finances, or personal lives.

Use corporate TV to show a dashboard of the business

A company’s data is its lifeblood. Sales analytics, online customer interactions, risk analyses, and supply chain status updates all need to be communicated to your whole staff at the same time. If you use various data sets, everyone’s efforts may be in vain.

A personalized approach is feasible to provide relevant and correct information to every employee. Even yet, seeing facts on corporate TV has a much more significant effect than doing it on a tiny Mac screen. Large displays, or even an entire wall of screens, might be placed in an area where all workers can view them.

Display KPIs and other critical data on these panels as part of a corporate dashboard. Making this data readily available helps workers carry out their responsibilities and coordinate their efforts with their colleagues. Displaying your organization’s progress toward its objectives helps spot difficulties, keeps track of triumphs, and inspires everyone engaged in the company.

To advertise any internal events that might be happening

In this case, if just 31% of your employees showed up to a corporate function, how would you feel? That is the typical click-through rate for internal event emails. You must also remember that an opened email does not always mean that someone will attend your event. Internal newsletters are being replaced by more effective methods of communication like digital displays. A digital signs monitor ensures that everyone arrives on time for meetings, training, and other internal activities.

If you want your firm to succeed, you need a joyful, efficient workplace where workers feel invested in the company’s goal and where cooperation flourishes. Businesses in the digital age need effective methods of internal communication that encourage teamwork and cooperation.

It’s time for you to leverage the potential of corporate TV to develop your organization’s internal communication. It is practical, failsafe, and a result-driven technique to boost communication with workers.

Many firms find it tough to create close connections with their staff. And it is clear since excessive objectives, deadlines, and less contact with workers steer firms away from building long-term relationships with their employees. Set up corporate TV to boost internal communication and establish affinity with workers.

The post Corporate TV as Part of Modern Internal Communication appeared first on Small Business Coach.

Culture is defined as the collective mind and heart of an organization. There are a lot of things that affect the attitudes of your employees about their duties and responsibilities and who they work for. When most managers conduct culture assessments, they find that most mechanisms, activities, and processes connected to the experience of employees affect their attitude toward their work and organization. The biggest influence on the experience of an employee is their managers.

 How managers can create the right workplace culture to foster high performance

1. Create meaningful values and communicate them

Organizational values are not philosophical principles. Values help in guiding employees on how they should interact with customers, the community, and with each other. Your organization should have no more than five values to make it easier for employees to understand and remember what’s important to the organization.

Leaders should communicate the values and the expected behavior linked to each value. This will help employees to know what’s expected of them thus reducing uncertainty and ensuring that everyone’s behavior is aligned with the values of the organization. The best way for managers to communicate values to their employees is by setting a good example. Values do not just apply to frontline staff but the entire organization including senior management. For organizational values to have meaning, leaders should adhere to them every day.

2. Proper selection is key

Most of the time, managers rush to fill a vacant position in the organization without asking the right questions. And this leads to poor hiring decisions. Most managers look at the experience of a candidate to determine their employability. But according to essay reviews, successful leaders, on the other hand, look at how well the individual will work with others. It’s important to ensure that the candidate fits with the values and culture of the organization.

Human resource managers should consider using questions that have

been tailored around the core values of the organization to know their candidates and make the right hiring decision. Another great way to conduct proper selection is by using a behavioral-interview approach. This method ensures that candidates engage in an activity during the interview process. This activity will help in pushing candidates out of their comfort zone and provide an opportunity to assess behaviors instead of asking a lot of questions.

3. Enhance the onboarding and orientation process

Research studies have shown that close to thirty percent of new hires quit within the first three months of working. To prevent this from happening to you, you should ensure that new hires receive an engaging and effective orientation during the first few days on the job together with an excellent onboarding process. It is important to set up success for new hires during this period to ensure that they feel connected to their team, job, and organization.

You can do this by establishing the right priorities from the first day. Ensure that all employees are happy and feel welcomed from the first day. By creating an organized training program and testing the comprehension of new hires, you will reduce turnover and boost the productivity and performance of your organization.

4. Communicate with all employees

The one thing that leads to poor engagement levels, low productivity, and an increased turnover rate in most organizations, according to a pro essay writer, is poor communication. Most managers are usually surprised when employees or teams report that there is ineffective communication because they think they communicate with their employees regularly. The key issue is not the quantity but the quality of communication transmitted within an organization.

Business leaders can improve communication in the organization by keeping their words short and simple, using their tone and body language effectively, and communicating in a timely fashion. Using the right channels to communicate and reinforce a message is also important. Keep in mind that communication is a two-way process. Checking on your employees regularly to ensure that they understood your message is important.

5. Recognize your employees

Recognition is a great way to reinforce good habits, make employees feel appreciated, boost engagement and retain the best talent. However, most employees don’t feel appreciated in the workplace. A research study found that 63 percent of employees don’t feel like they get praised enough in the workplace. Every employee learns and processes information differently. Therefore, managers should ensure that they recognize their employees effectively.

Managers should use different methods to recognize their employees. And they should be based around writing, saying, or doing something. The best ways to recognize your employees include writing thank you cards or emails, mentioning their achievements in meetings, or coming up with a fun recognition program. Employees are different. Therefore, recognition should be tailored to meet the needs of every person.

6. Coach your employees

Informal feedback is one of the best ways to help your employees understand how their behaviors measure up to your expectations. Research studies have shown that 32 percent of employees wait for at least three months to get feedback from their managers. This makes it harder for employees to measure their performance and link it to the expected results. Informal feedback can be effective by ensuring that it is timely, fair, and balanced. You should explain why specific behaviors are important and include a gesture of appreciation.

7. Show employees that you care about the workplace culture

Showing your employees that you care about them individually and you’ll do whatever it takes to improve the culture of your organization. You can do this by listening to their needs and supporting them as much as you can. As you listen, make sure that you listen attentively and try to understand the perspective of your employees.

Conclusion on Workplace Culture

Successful leaders are always on the lookout for areas that need adjustments or improvements. While workplace culture is complex, the tips that we’ve shared here will help you foster high performance in the organization.

Author Bio:

Leon Collier is a blogger and academic writer from the UK. He likes trying new subjects and is always focused on proving his worth as a writer in new and challenging writing areas. His hobbies are reading books and playing tabletop games with his friends. You can reach him via Twitter @LeonCollier12.

The post Fostering a High Performance Through Workplace Culture appeared first on Small Business Coach.

One of the best ways to improve performance in your business is to implement a bonus program for your employees. A well-designed bonus program will motivate employees to achieve your goals, and you as the business owner get the lion’s share of the increase in sales and profits.  On the other hand, a poorly designed bonus system will only increase frustration and reduce morale.  Here are some things to consider.

Use Open Book Management

As a beginning place for a sound bonus system, I’m a fan of Open Book Management for any arena of business, non-profit or for profit. Since information is power, sharing your information with managers empowers them, and they will understand why they are achieving or missing bonuses prior to getting the good or bad news.

Determine Key Business Drivers

Secondly, decide what your key business drivers are and develop measures for each key driver. In other words, what major factors drive the success of your business, and what goals do you want to achieve? What goals will each retail unit need to achieve in order to attain your corporate goal?

Next, determine how much of a bonus you will share; will you establish a set pool of dollars for a flat bonus, or will the bonus be paid as a percentage of success once a certain goal has been attained? Then, of course, break it down by unit.

Decide how often you will pay the bonus. I prefer a year-end bonus since many businesses are seasonal; a good month or quarter does not always mean a good year.

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Finally, meet with your team on a regular basis to share financial results and other key driver results. Have your managers share what is working and not working for them at these meetings. Brainstorm at every meeting about how you can attain your goals; many times this will mean adding dollars to the top line and reducing expenses. Keep your team focused on “the ball.” Celebrate successes, and encourage managers who fall behind; learn from failures.

A well-designed bonus program works especially well within the framework of a clear, overall vision that is well communicated, deployed and that impacts every area of the organization.

Conclusion

You can see employee and customer satisfaction rise, turnover decrease, and more money in your pocket if you do this well!

Questions about our small business coaching services?

Call us at 1-888-504-0777,

or 

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a Distance – Zoom

It’s no secret that the world is changing. With more and more companies making the move to remote working, Zoom and other digital means of communication have skyrocketed in popularity. While lots of businesses have taken this in their stride, others are finding it more difficult to manage their workforces effectively. If you’ve been struggling to apply in-person management techniques to your remote employees, you’re not alone. There’s definitely something of an adjustment period, but sometimes there are small creases you can’t seem to iron out.

Fortunately, there are many ways to overcome the challenges you’re facing due to physical distance. These aren’t always easy to figure out on your own, which is why this blog is here to give you some important tips and tricks to help you out. Discover how to manage more efficiently at a distance and watch your business flourish as a result.

Finding the right tools

The first step to effectively managing your remote workforce is by finding the right tools for the job. Without these, staying in touch and collaborating with members of your team will be more difficult than it needs to be. Just because the whole world is using Zoom doesn’t mean that you have to as well. Once the initial shock has died down, think carefully about the types of tools that would serve your business the best. For example, if you’re already using Gmail, perhaps Google Meet is the next logical step to take when it comes to weekly meetings. Alternatively, you might decide that Slack’s clean interface and simple messaging system suit your business needs even more.

But it’s not just communication-specific tools you need to think about. When businesses were based in a physical office, it was easy enough to collaborate simply by sitting at the same table. But now that teams are spread around the world, it’s important to find software that allows you to collaborate online. This includes things like Google Docs, cloud accounting software, and image libraries, all of which allow team members to work together and make changes to ongoing projects.

Check-in regularly, but avoid micromanagement while utilizing Zoom

As a manager, it can be disconcerting not knowing what your team is doing all day long. You might be worried that they’re focusing on the wrong tasks, not prioritizing correctly, or interpreting briefs in an unusual way. Things are likely running smoothly, but to avoid crossed wires, try to make meetings a daily practice. These meetings don’t have to be long, in fact, they can even be under 10 minutes, but they give everyone a chance to clarify what they’re working on and ask any questions.

But these regular check-ins have led many managers to fall into the trap of micromanagement. The morning meeting quickly becomes countless messages and requests for updates throughout the day, leaving employees to feel like they can’t leave their desks to stretch their legs. If you’ve been feeling a sense of anxiety around leaving people to their own devices, it’s time to recognize that these worries are coming from within you and have nothing to do with your staff. Trust your team to do the job they’ve always done well.

Listen and offer support via Zoom meetings

Have you stopped to wonder whether your team is finding it just as hard as you to communicate effectively? While you might be feeling like staff are willfully out of reach, they might see you as distant and unapproachable. Working from home has been difficult for lots of people, so it’s important to ask about any concerns staff might be having and listen closely to their answers. If people are struggling, these are some ways you can work to improve communication and replicate an in-person work environment:

•       Hold drop-ins: Sometimes employees don’t want to send you a message because they don’t want to disturb you. By holding drop-ins, you give your team the confidence to come forward. These drop-in calls don’t have to take a long time, and you don’t actively need to be speaking for the whole time period. Many managers open a video or voice call and work while they’re online and available to talk. Sometimes nobody will drop in, but at least everyone knew you were available.
•       Have a ticketing system: An efficient ticketing system allows employees to make requests and submit tasks without jumping on a call or starting a new chat. This can sometimes remove the hesitancy some team members might have over opening discussions virtually for the smallest of things.
•       Don’t forget about socializing: While some team members will be content to have lunch by themselves, others will feel a disconnection from office life. Setting up optional lunchtime events or after-work drinks can give people a chance to bond with their co-workers. Don’t forget, there would be plenty of chances in the office for people to chat about the weekend or their holiday plans, so give them the same opportunities when they’re remote as well.

Track progress and celebrate wins with Zoom

It can be easy to forget how far you’ve come when working remotely, as every day will blend into the next more easily. Equally, it’s all too easy to slip up and forget how close a looming deadline is if you haven’t got it blocked out on your calendar. Tracking how far along projects are is key to managing your workload when working remotely.

But it’s important to make sure you’re tracking the good things as well. Keep a close eye on both individual progress and your team’s achievements as a whole – and don’t forget to acknowledge successes. Remote working can be demotivating for some, as they might not have a real, tangible picture of the impact of their work. Celebrating projects that went well can rekindle a sense of team spirit and boost morale.

And finally… Don’t panic

Thousands of businesses across the world have started working remotely, putting them all in the same boat as you. Remote working has its ups and downs, but as a manager, it’s your job to help your team make the best of them. Stay level-headed and meet the challenges that come with a well-thought-out plan of action.

The post The Zoom Boom – How to Manage at a Distance appeared first on Small Business Coach.

• Ray Dalio

Hiring the right people goes a long way to maximize cost, save time, and bring in a high return on investment for your company. Pre-employment can be a difficult process to overcome.

Undercover Recruiter reports that hiring a bad hire can cost about $240,000 in expenses, and CareerBuilder says nearly three in four employers are affected by a poor hire. 

To avoid the dire consequences of hiring the wrong employees, you must pay attention to your pre-employment process. This is so you can hire the right people who will contribute immensely to your company’s growth. 

This article will walk you through the seven practical ways to create an excellent pre-employment process that brings the right candidates for your organization.

Let’s get into it.

7 Pre-employment tips for selecting the best candidates 

There are seven critical tips to follow when looking to hire the best candidates for your company. They are practical and can help make your recruiting process a lot more effective. Let’s check them out below:

• Invest in recruitment marketing for pre-employment

If you are looking to hire the best talents for a role, you have to invest in effective marketing that reaches and attracts the right people.

 Effective recruitment comes with approaching the recruitment process with a marketing mindset, just like you would when attracting new customers. 

The best way to hire the most qualified candidates is by studying the three stages —awareness, consideration, and decision stages —  of their journey with your company.

In the awareness stage, your candidates become aware of your job vacancy. There’s also the consideration stage where prospective candidates evaluate your company and the position available to see if it’s a good fit. And there’s the decision stage, where your prospective candidates decide to apply for the job. 

It’s essential to know that each of these stages requires different approaches to be successful. For example, suppose you want to generate enough awareness to reach the suitable candidates and get them to consider the positions in your company. This means you need to invest in promoting your employer brand across several platforms. 

What reputation do you have with your employees? What is your employee culture, and what are the perks of working with your organization? You want to ensure you put these positives out there for your candidates to see. Because apart from the pay, the best talents want to work in an environment that lets them grow and be better. 

By highlighting your employee benefits, work culture, and work environment, you will be able to answer your top talents’ most prominent questions and they will be able to make a decision to work with you. 

• Ask for referrals during pre-employment

Asking for referrals from your existing employees or partners increases your chances of hiring the best candidates. This is because your current employees or working partners are more likely to have people with similar skill sets in their circle. 

Apart from this, asking for referrals comes with tons of benefits. First, they help speed up the hiring process because the referred candidates are most likely qualified and can save your team the rigor of pre-screening stages.

Secondly, the onboarding process is a lot easier. This is because the candidates are already familiar with at least one of your employees who can help with explaining the company’s culture and values.

Thirdly, referrals are excellent ways to actively engage the rest of the team in the recruitment process, which increases your chances of reaching a pool of talents to hire. 

To seek referrals from your employees, send emails stating the vacant positions available and highlighting the skills, requirements, and qualifications required to fill the positions.

Also, show them how you would like them to send the candidates your way. For example, would you prefer they send the details of the candidates through your email, or would you prefer they connect you directly to the candidate while you and your team take it from there? 

Stating your expectations clearly can help your employees recommend suitable candidates following the proper procedures to simplify recruitment. 

• Conduct pre-employment skills testing 

Pre-employment skills testing is one of the most critical parts of your recruitment process that should be carried out effectively to hire the best candidates for a role. 

It is how you know a candidate has what it takes to perform excellently in a role. Pre-employment skills testing is of different types. There are soft skills tests, hard skills tests, role-specific tests, personality tests, culture fit tests, cognitive ability tests, and many more. 

Conducting these tests goes a long way in streamlining the number of qualified candidates you have for a role and selecting the best talents among the eligible candidates.

It also helps you save big on recruitment costs and reduces time-to-hire. As a result, you will spend less time on the wrong candidates and avoid the expenses of replacing bad hires. 

• Create great experiences for candidates

Top talents are concerned about how a company treats them. This experience starts from the time your candidates get to know about your job all through to the recruitment process. So, you must make the recruitment process as seamless as possible for your candidates.

Start with making the initial application process straightforward. Keep your candidates informed throughout the process, from the details about the interview’s time, dates, and requirements to your expectations during the assessment process. 

Another way to keep the experience positive for your candidates is to provide constructive feedback when necessary. 

For example, if a candidate wasn’t hired due to a failed assessment or not meeting specific requirements, it’s good to inform the candidates that your company won’t be hiring them and why. 

The timely and constructive feedback can help the candidate move on to seeking opportunities in other places early; it can also enlighten them on their shortcomings to find ways to improve to be qualified for future opportunities. 

Also, you will be able to leave a positive impression of your company in the minds of your candidates, which can help with future collaborations. 

• Collaborate effectively with the team

Hiring suitable candidates is teamwork. It is, therefore, essential to carry everyone in the team along in the process. 

While you will be in charge of the execution as the hiring manager, you will also need to carry the executives, the financial adviser, and the rest of the human resources team along throughout the process.

Also, inform other employees outside your team ahead of time if you need their help with the recruitment process. 

For example, if you need the design team to come up with graphics for the job ad or the social media manager to post the job ads across the social channels, they should know what is expected beforehand. 

Keep the communication open and consistent to keep everyone involved in the hiring process updated every step of the way. This will go a long way in facilitating the recruitment process to achieve the right outcome. 

• Understand that it’s never a one-size-fit

It’s important to know that although it’s good to have a system to guide you through the recruiting process as a company, it’s also critical to understand the system won’t be applicable in all cases. 

There will be exceptions, situations where you have to develop new processes to meet unusual cases. 

For example, in situations where there’s an overflow of work, you need new hands to help the existing employees urgently, or for cases where more than two employees leave the organization without notice. 

There would be a need to come up with new processes to tackle these urgent needs. 

The effectiveness of a recruitment pre-employment stage is its ability to consistently meet the organizations’ current needs. It must therefore be open to change and improvement as new situations arise and as the company evolves. 

• Be proactive 

Proper planning is the secret of any successful pre-employment process. This means none of the activities in the pre-employment stage should be an afterthought; every process should be designed to make the employment process a success. 

This involves setting expectations and goals and predicting the outcome of the pre-employment stage to make the best decisions. 

Understand the present stage of staff. Stay updated on who would be retiring or resigning from the organization soon so you can work towards finding a replacement before the employees leave the organization. 

Remember, the success of your pre-employment stage depends highly on how well you plan and how effectively you execute your plans. One way to ensure a practical planning and execution process is to stay proactive. 

Conclusion on Pre-Employment

An effective pre-employment process saves your company from bad hiring decisions. This article discussed seven practical tips to introduce into your pre-employment process to enable your company to hire the best talents.

These tips include marketing your company’s employee benefits effectively, asking for referrals, conducting pre-employment skill tests, delivering great candidate experiences, keeping everyone in the team updated, keeping the system open to change, and being proactive in the processes. 

Use these tips to improve your pre-employment process and enable the recruiting team to hire the best-qualified candidates for the job.

Author Bio:
Lydia Iseh is a writer with years of experience in writing SEO content that provides value to the reader. As someone who believes in the power of SEO to transform businesses, she enjoys being part of the process that helps websites rank high on search engines.

The post 7 Important Pre-Employment Tips Every HR appeared first on Small Business Coach.

Owning a business represents a life’s work for most people, an emblem of their vision, creativity, determination, and perseverance. Needless to say, your business value is one of the most important factors to success. As a result, when the time to sell eventually comes around, business owners will want to receive top dollar for their company. While businesses are ultimately valued for their ability to generate growing profits in the years to come, the following 6 tips can help in this regard and increase the value of your business in the eyes of potential buyers. 

1. Get Your Documentation in Order

One of the best ways to increase the value of your business is to, well, know the value of your business. Investors will assess your business on a number of factors, such as debt-to-income, free cash flow, and projected sales growth. In the end, if they see that your business is in a strong position to provide them a healthy return on their invested dollar, your business’ valuation will skyrocket.

The problem is that many small business owners have no idea on how to value a business. Business valuation requires a unique mix of tangible and intangible considerations. Among the tangible factors that can influence a business’ valuation include EBITDA, profits vs. cash flow, trends in profit, and percent of market share. General accounting financials, such as balance sheets, income statements, and tax returns, are also important to compare on a year-over-year basis. On the intangible side, pending legal rulings, brand image, the business’ sustainability practices, and goodwill in the community are all important factors that can drive value. 

Having organized documentation for the business may be difficult for the business owner amid the grind of day-to-day operations. Therefore, it is a good idea to work closely with professional accountants, attorneys, and business brokers when forming a business valuation. While there may be up-front costs for these professional services, having an accurate assessment of the business’ worth is an important first step in laying the foundation for increasing value. 

2. Demonstrate Scalability to Help Business Value

A scalable business does not have to spend more money to make an additional sale, allowing profit margins to increase alongside revenue. Scalable businesses are attractive to potential buyers because hypergrowth scenarios are possible with the correct marketing and execution, as owners can focus on running the business without the need for significant capital expenditures.

One step that businesses are taking to ensure greater scalability is to incorporate subscriptions into their business model. In general, it does not cost businesses much more money to sell an additional subscription. This has caused subscription models to proliferate across a wide range of industries, with car subscription services, alone, set to increase by 71% by 2023. 

3. Take Steps to Ensure Employee Loyalty

As many businesses scramble to find ways to leverage technology and increase automation in their operations, it may seem intuitive to believe that employees are less important than ever. However, there are a couple of reasons to reconsider this notion.

First, potential buyers are likely to be attracted to those businesses that come with high-performing employees, as it will save them time and resources in recruiting, hiring, and training their workforce. In fact, statistics show that businesses spend more than $4,100 per new hire, so businesses coming with a ready-made staff will be highly appealing.  

In addition, customers are more likely to choose businesses with a strong reputation of treating employees well, with 29% of a surveyed sample saying that how a business treats their employees is a significant determining factor for whether they will become a loyal customer. Therefore, if you regularly explore ways to make employees feel valued and solidify their loyalty, it has the potential to greatly increase the company’s value.  

4. Improve Your Business Space

As many businesses continue to explore ways to increase remote work and contactless order fulfillment, those companies with physical locations must find creative ways to optimize their business spaces. One idea involves using large windows and open spaces to increase natural light flow, which provides a more inviting ambience to attract customers and lowers utility requirements. In addition, it is important to design physical spaces in an adaptable manner, allowing the area to be shared with other patrons or rented out for special occasions.   

5. Increase the Convenience of Your Offerings

Fast food and drive-thru windows are an early example of the premium customers are willing to pay for convenience. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, delivery and curb-side pickup have also taken off. Finally, the continuing movement toward ecommerce has many customers choosing the convenience of online orders as opposed to visiting physical storefronts.

Therefore, any features that can add convenience to the customer experience are a great means of increasing your business’ value. In addition to the aforementioned features (if applicable), some other ideas for adding convenience include:

• Business-specific apps that allow for quicker shopping and faster payment
• Favorable shipping costs and terms
• 24/7 accessibility
• Subscriptions and recurring purchases so customers don’t have to remember to make a purchase. Just remember to make out opt-out avenues easy to locate

6. Add Automation as You Increase Your Business Value

Although it is critical to have a loyal and high-performing staff to appeal to potential buyers, there is no denying that automation will have a positive impact on valuation. Business investors will savor the idea of not having to pay salary, benefits, and time off for every single business function.

Self-checkout kiosks are an obvious choice for businesses that feature a physical storefront. However, even for businesses that are strictly online, there are still ways to add automation. Ecommerce CRM processes, feedback templates, chat bots, contactless payroll, and order fulfilment software are all ways to increase business value while reducing the work required on the part of the business owner.

Increase Your Business Value

As a business owner, it is essential to take steps to increase the value of the business in order to receive top dollar at the time of sale. By getting documentation in order, demonstrating scalability, ensuring employee loyalty, improving the business space, increasing the convenience of offerings, and adding automation, business owners can increase the value of their business and appeal to a wider range of prospective buyers.

The post 6 Tips to Increase Your Business Value appeared first on Small Business Coach.

Remote workers can be an essential aspect of your business. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began and spread, companies underwent forced lockdowns, thus increasing the number of remote working employees. A survey states that 88% of businesses worldwide directed and encouraged their employees to work from home. This unexpected change in circumstances forced many companies to search for ways to work with their remote employees. Thanks to advancements in technology and software, employers progressively find it easier to work productively with their off-site staff. Reports show that several companies are changing some job positions to allow their workers to work full-time or partial hours from home.

However, shifting to a remote work setup has a fair share of challenges for employers. How can you manage the attendance and performance of your employees in a remote setup? What are the best strategies to secure business data with distributed teams? Business communications, people management, time management, customer service, and IT security are common topics of concern for many employers planning to embrace remote and hybrid (combination of in-house and remote employees) workplaces.

Now, companies can tap into several solutions to meet their productivity quota with remote working staff. As an employer, what are some of the best solutions you can tailor for your remote workers? 

Human Resource Onboarding Software

Various digital human resource (HR) platforms ease the time-consuming process of hiring and integrating new staff into an organization. These HR digital packages assist in the reduction of time taken between searching for capable employees to hiring them. These platforms aid you in reducing the amount of paperwork needed for hiring staff, processing employee benefits, and simplifies the set-up of payroll.

• GoCo Onboarding platform

GoCo blog points out companies can customize HR platforms to meet the needs of their business. The value of these platforms affects your business’s bottom line by reducing the cost of having a well-streamlined HR structure. 

Communication Platforms for Your Remote Workers

Ongoing and clear communication is essential to the success of any business project and venture. Your remote workers face isolation and non-face-to-face immediate interaction. Team meetings, coffee and lunch breaks, chats with colleagues made it easier to access direct information between in-house co-workers. Employees working in remote locations do not have the same access to these informal chats. To reduce this lack of immediate communication, you can invest in internal communication customizable software and platforms to include remote workers. 

•  Zoom Video Conferencing

The Zoom platform enables businesses and individuals to conduct group meetings, one-to-one meetings, and host events and webinars. During these events, Zoom video conferencing allows you to present your PowerPoint presentations, the use of whiteboards, and other software that engages your employees or clients. It allows for the set-up of different breakout rooms for more in-depth team discussions or social chats. You can record a meeting or webinar to have it accessible during offline hours to your employees, clients, or as a marketing tool for your website.

• Microsoft Teams to Help Your Remote Workers

Microsoft Teams offers a virtual office for team discussions, meetings, social chats, and team document collaboration. This virtual office makes it easier for remote workers to fit into an organization or company. Microsoft Teams allows room for file sharing, basic video calls, integrating different applications, and other features. A feature within Microsoft Teams is its digital working space under its ‘Together mode’ that allows both in-house and remote teams to work in the same workspace or ‘sit together’ as a team.

Remote IT Support and Support for Remote Workers

In-house office setting, getting the IT staff to check on your computer or failing software is not a hustle. How about when you are working remotely? Platforms such as TeamViewer make it easier for the IT guy to help you fix your computer problem.

• TeamViewer

With TeamViewer installed on your computer, the IT staff can remotely and securely access it. You provide the IT person with the login details and the security number generated when you access the TeamViewer, thus allowing the IT staff to access your computer and help you fix the computer issue. Team viewer gives remote access to any device across various platforms.

Because remote and hybrid workers are at a high risk of cybersecurity vulnerabilities, companies and organizations must take more stringent security measures. Phishing, ransomware, and data leakage are just a few of the many IT problems remote workplaces may encounter. A minor IT problem can become a disaster, compromising the entire business. Hence, remote workplaces have several options:

• Hiring an in-house IT expert.
• Taking advantage of managed IT support Melbourne services.
• Self-managing your IT security.

Conclusion

Remote work settings are increasingly growing, even after the peak rates of the pandemic, because of their cost-effectiveness. The recommended solutions above can help you manage your remote workers without compromising your business data, employees’ performance, and output quality. Having the right tools and strategies for remote work management can help make your company more successful.

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