Top Tips to Make Your HR Department More Efficient

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |HR Department|Top Tips to Make Your HR Department More EfficientHuman resources are one of the most influential departments in the build-up of an organisation; due to this, HR professionals must be able to work efficiently in a fast-paced and rapidly changing environment. To achieve optimised productivity levels, it is paramount for those working within a human resource department to implement various techniques to keep individuals working at maximum efficiency.

From looking out for the welfare of employees to organising company events, HR professionals have a long list of tasks and responsibilities to juggle on a daily which can be challenging. So how do HR professionals do it? We’ve looked at some of the best ways for HR professionals to remain efficient even when balancing a heavy workload; read on for our top tips for an effective HR department.

Switch To Cloud-Based Systems

Overflowing file cabinets. Folders of documents everywhere. Pieces of paper spilling out all over desks. If this sounds like your HR department, then it might be worth considering switching to cloud-based systems to store all your essential files and documents. Making the switch from traditional storage methods to cloud-based solutions can boast many benefits from increased security, the ability to access documents anywhere and at any time, being able to store hundreds of documents in one place and better organisation.

Nowadays, there is a cloud server for everything, making everything from file storage to payroll easier for HR members and improving the department’s efficiency overall. For instance, you can make mundane, routine tasks like payroll easier by using cloud-based payroll software through providers such as PayCaptain. Consider looking at their product offering for more ideas on making your HR department more efficient.

Make The Most Of Technology

In our new era of hybrid working, making the most of technology and practising effective communication can help HR professionals be more efficient in their jobs. For instance, instead of solely relying on emails and direct messages to convey long, detailed messages, you could try using software such as Skype or Zoom to video-call colleagues.

Doing so will save you the time and effort of typing out your message and avoid typing out responses to any queries that it may spark. Making the most of social media platforms can benefit HR members whose workforce is compiled of remote, hybrid and in-office staff as it enables you to communicate with everyone in various time-effective ways.

Use Social Media Platforms For Recruitment

Another mundane, routine task that HR professionals are tasked with is staffing, whether that is dealing with hiring, onboarding and many more. The recruitment process can be a long-winded and challenging process for HR professionals; however, it can be made easier by social media platforms. As well as being a well-loved place for people to socialise and reconnect with people all over the globe, social media is also an excellent place for businesses to advertise their vacancies instead of using job boards or recruitment companies.

As well as significantly reducing the amount of time HR professionals spend sourcing and recruiting new talent, advertising jobs via social media can also save the company money and help their adverts reach a wider network of people. Utilising social media can make HR more efficient as they can use the time not wasted to focus on other business areas.

Give Employees Regular Feedback

Although it may seem counterproductive to be giving employees regular feedback, ensuring that employees are praised or criticised when necessary can help their ongoing development and save HR professionals time in the long run. Waiting for monthly annual appraisals can be counterproductive as, by the time the scheduled meeting arrives, it may be too late for the feedback or no longer relevant.

Ensuring that you praise and criticise employees accordingly can help employees with their ongoing development, so they’re aware of their talents and the areas that need improvement and can work towards growing or mastering their skills. Giving employees regular feedback will help to strengthen the bond between management and their workforce, as it clarifies work expectations. It also helps employees learn from their mistakes and makes them feel good about themselves as they know that management has their best interests at heart.

Work On Your Relationships

One of the critical elements in human resources is communication and negotiating, both of which are improved if you actively try to maintain or improve workplace relationships. One of the tasks that HR are shouldered with is creating a workplace environment that is friendly and where their employees are valued and listened to.

Ensuring that you maintain a good working relationship with everyone is crucial for creating this environment; otherwise, employees won’t feel obligated to share their thoughts with you, making HR’s job difficult. In the business world, it’s essential to make connections; otherwise, you run the risk of missing out on opportunities and helpful resources, which is why it is equally as necessary to maintain your workplace relationships so that you don’t limit yourself.

The Most Effective Ways To Improve Conversions

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Improve Conversions|The Most Effective Ways To Improve ConversionsWebsite conversion rates average around 2%. For every 100 visitors that find their way to your website, you can expect to get only two customers. This is actually is a pretty good conversion rate, even though it sounds low. A lot of sites have a conversion rate of only 0.1%, so they need 1000 site visitors to get one customer.

You can improve conversions with a reliable site with AWS powered WordPress, and these tricks to get more customers with your existing traffic.

Add A Pop-Up

Conversion rates have a higher conversion rate than a standard website. If you get it right, you can get a conversion rate of almost 10%. Making just this one change can really improve your conversion rate. It works on almost any kind of website, no matter your industry.

To improve your conversion rate with pop-ups:

  • Try several offers, such as as premium content, different products, PDFs, and other free content, until you find something that works for you
  • Put a thirty-second delay on your pop-up to prevent it from being annoying
  • Make sure the pop-up is easy to close
  • Set a cookie to make sure the pop-up only appears once for each use, so stop people getting sick of it

These tricks can give you a real boost in conversion and keep your complaints low at the same. You won’t annoy anyone with your pop-ups, and can still get the benefit.

Remove Unnecessary Form Fields

Have you ever started filling out a form on a website, and ended up giving up because they are just so many required fields?

Too much to fill in is a fast and effective way to completely kill your conversion rate. Take out any form fields that you don’t need, leaving only the ones that are actually needed to accomplish your goal.

For each form field you can take out, the higher your sign-ups will go. Of course, you can take this too far, so be careful. If your sales team doesn’t get all the information from the lead that they need in order to properly follow up, you might get a lot of sign-ups but won’t be able to improve your close rate. Find the right balance between getting all the relevant information while keeping required fields to a minimum. Make sure that every field plays an important part. If it doesn’t, take it out.

Add Testimonials, Reviews, And Logos

Nobody wants to be the first person to try out a product or a service. You can give them a sense of confidence in your offering by providing testimonials and reviews from past satisfied customers.

Social proof, such as testimonials, helps to put consumers’ minds at ease. Put customer reviews prominently on your site to improve your conversion rate significantly. You can see a huge uptick just by doing this.

Add logos of any big brands you work with or memberships you have to showcase how trustworthy and reliable you are to encourage new customers.

Resolve to Land Your Dream Job in 2022

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Land your dream job|Resolve to Land Your Dream Job in 2022It is the resolution many workers make each new year: “This is the year I get my dream job.”

For those truly motivated to land a new role, ascend to the next level, boost their salary—or all three—conditions have rarely been better. Due to the Great Resignation, job listings are plentiful, wages are rising, and employers are upping the ante to lure workers. The huge competition for talent has given employees the upper hand.

While it might be tempting to jump at the next opportunity you see on LinkedIn or make a lateral move for a raise, the last thing you want to do is leave a tolerable position for one that becomes quickly intolerable. When you are in a job you love, it feels custom-made just for you. You feel your values reflected in the company’s mission. You feel rewarded just for working there—“Thank God it’s Monday,” you think each week. And the paycheck is nice, too.

I have been writing about the job market for several years, and frankly, conditions have never been better to land your dream job. I believe that following these ten steps can bring you closer to your dream job in the coming months:

1. Take time to plan and dream

The important first step is to carve out time to think through the position you’d like to achieve. The ideal career awaits you if you do your homework. Keep careful lists of the qualities and talents you possess and which types of businesses will reward them. Put pen to paper—or fingers to keyboards—and allow yourself to follow ideas where they lead. This a valuable first step for finding the career that is right for you. (Need some inspiration? Take a personality test, such as that offered by Meyers-Briggs. Or ask your friends where they see you working and investigate those jobs.)

2. Work backwards

One way of figuring out what your “dream job” is right now is to imagine yourself five years from now (in an even dreamier job). Then work backwards to figure out the stepping-stone jobs you need to take to eventually land there. Maybe you can’t run a publishing empire or be a social media influencer with 20,000,000 Instagram followers yet—but if you take smaller, intentional baby steps, you will have a better chance of eventually reaching your aspiration.

3. Learn how to toot your own horn

Regardless of whether you’re a boisterous extrovert or a restrained introvert, let those around you know your capabilities. The most important place to start is within your own company. When you win a piece of business or create an attractive website or advance a project in any way, get the word out. Don’t be shy. Also, don’t assume that you can just dash off an email that the higher-ups will necessarily read. You need to get comfortable with promoting your achievements. No one will do this for you. You are your own best advocate.

4. Engage in general networking

Is there a young professionals group associated with your industry, such as a local chapter of Meetup.com, that you should join? Does your company offer a mentor program that will pair you with a senior employee who might become your advocate? If not, you may want to look into finding a mentor outside your company. Do you need to expand your LinkedIn presence and begin commenting and posting your own industry observations? There’s never enough time to network, so somehow you need to make the time.

5. Set up 15-minute informational interviews

Ask around to see if there is anyone you know who would spare a few minutes to discuss her field with you. It could be a friend, or a friend of a friend, or even one of your parents’ friends. You may be surprised to find that people often want to offer advice on the steps to take to start out in their field. Prepare some questions in advance—for example: ask how the person ended up in her field, what best prepared her for her career, which aspects she most enjoys, and how the field is changing. Depending on how forthcoming the person is, you might also ask if she would mind if you sent a resume to keep on file in case of any future openings.

6. Read job postings

Do you feel goosebumps zip down your spine when you read about certain jobs? It could be an indication that this is the job of your dreams. Start reading job postings in the two or three fields that excite you. You can find postings on LinkedIn, Monsterjobs, Indeed, Glassdoor, and Simply Hired. Familiarize yourself with job descriptions to learn common industry terms, roles, salaries, and in-demand skills.

7. Customize your resume

Your resume should reflect the skills you possess and your specific accomplishments—but be sure to customize and change your resume appropriately for each position you pursue. Don’t be afraid to parrot some of the words on the list of requirements back to the company. Many times, companies will use the key words mentioned in the job posting when screening resumes. Try to work in examples that have relevance to the company’s customers or clients or to issues taking place industry-wide. Show how you can add value by quantifying results you’ve achieved. For example, “Coordinated silent auction for children’s advocacy organization that brought in $49,000” or “Streamlined outdated accounting system to save the company 50 hours—and $3,900—per week.”

8. Show personality in your cover letter

Write a cover letter that truly reflects your own personality. Remember that you need to stand out, not just blend in to the hundreds of “blah-blah-blah” letters. Hiring managers look for candidates with dynamism behind their desire to work for the company. Choose words that reveal that you are passionate, not passive: instead of “helpful,” your findings were “game-changing.” Instead of “useful,” your discoveries proved “transformational.”

9. Consider the gig economy

If you dream of being your own boss, why not look into gig work? With so many upsides—including picking and choosing your clients and projects, as well as your hours and fees—it’s no wonder 40 percent of the U.S. workforce is employed in gig work. Ask yourself if your talents lend themselves to gig work. Also, do you have the expertise with technology and the ability to manage finances to work independently? Gig work could be a stepping stone to a full-time position or an end in itself. The rewards of gig work can be worth the effort as long as you enter into it thoughtfully and with an appropriate amount of preparation.

10. Thank those who helped you

Even if you don’t secure a job the first time around, when you remember to thank the people who granted you an interview, those people will remember you and think of you for other opportunities. While it may seem traditional, a handwritten thank-you card still carries cachet. Or, if you send a note electronically, sincerely show gratitude and help the person remember you by bringing up something he said that you found helpful or insightful.

You may not land the first few positions that you go for, but with each attempt, you will get better at the application and interview process. Stay motivated by keeping the prospect of landing your dream job in your sights.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Vicky Oliver

Vicky Oliver is a leading career development expert and the multi-best-selling author of five books, including 301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions (Sourcebooks 2005), named in the top 10 list of “Best Books for HR Interview Prep,” 301 Smart Answers to Tough Business Etiquette Questions (Skyhorse, 2010), and Bad Bosses, Crazy Coworkers & Other Office Idiots (Sourcebooks, 2008). She is a sought-after speaker and seminar presenter and a popular media source, having made over 901 appearances in broadcast, print and online outlets. For more information, visit vickyoliver.com.

What Are The Most Common Debt Solutions?

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Common Debt Solutions|What Are The Most Common Debt Solutions?Debt relief can alleviate the problems associated with an overwhelming credit card debt or personal loans. While it may not always be right for everyone, it sure can work for others. What are the most common debt solutions? This article discusses some of the ways to help you ease the burden of debt.

Should You Seek Debt Relief?

Have you been struggling with debt along with other financial obligations? If you think there’s no hope to repay your unsecured debt such as credit cards or personal loans albeit you’ve cut spending, then you might want to consider getting debt relief.

Common Debt Solutions to Consider

Should you decide to get debt relief to repay all of your credit card debt, please ensure that you know what you need to qualify, the tax implications and which creditors are being paid. Below are some of the options you might want to consider for debt relief:

Bankruptcy

Under the protection of a federal court, Chapter 7 Bankruptcy can wipe out several forms of debt including credit card debt, personal loans and medical bills. However, you may have to give up some of your assets like a car or jewelry.

Filing for bankruptcy is one of the most common and also effective (if you qualify) in erasing overwhelming debt. But keep in mind that you’ll need to pass the means test and you haven’t filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the past eight years.

You may be able to complete the process in about six months or less. First, complete a pre-file bankruptcy counseling from a qualified professional within 180 days before application. Look for an attorney for assistance and file all the paperwork. A trustee will need to review all paperwork and confirm if you are eligible for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. You may have to sell your assets and the proceeds go to the creditor. Properties held as collateral may be returned to your creditors.

Debt Settlement

If you don’t qualify for bankruptcy, you may want to consider a debt settlement to settle unsecured credit card debt or personal loans. Debt settlement is an agreement between you and the lender for a one-time payment in full of a reduced amount to clear your existing debt balance.

This debt relief option can help you repay your debt faster. For some people, it can avoid filing for bankruptcy and surrendering your assets. While it’s not going to miraculously end your financial troubles, it’s a good option. You can learn more about this option from FreedomDebtRelief.com and similar companies.

Debt Management Plans

Having a debt management plan allows you to settle credit card debts in full but with reduced interest rates. You make payments to a financial or credit counseling agency and they can distribute these to the financial companies you owe money to.

With a debt management plan, your credit accounts are closed, which means you’ll have to live without a credit card until you fully pay or complete the plan.

If you’re serious about reducing or eliminating debt, then get in touch with one of our professionals for debt relief.

Are You Ready to Eliminate Credit Card Debt?

Freedom Debt Relief has the solution to your financial problems. We can help you reduce or completely eliminate your debt. However, we suggest that you commit to this option to ensure positive results. What are the most common debt solutions? Talk to us so we can help you make an informed decision on how to go about your overwhelming debt.

Enterprise 101: Basic Tips for Newbie Businessowners

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Tips for Newbie Business Owners|Enterprise 101: Basic Tips for Newbie BusinessownersThe previous couple of years has been hard for businesses and countless small enterprises have had to close due to the economic strain. However, this doesn’t mean the entrepreneurial spirit of Americans has decreased; it’s quite the opposite.

According to information released by the United States Census Bureau, Americans filed as many as 5.4 million business applications in 2021 alone. There are plenty of lucrative opportunities waiting for the determined and clever entrepreneur, you just need to get started on the right footing.

Below are a handful of tips if you are a beginner business owner still brainstorming your first enterprise. Use them to ensure your enterprise takes off the right way.

1. Find Your Interest

While many people will tell you to look for the most lucrative idea there is and pursue it, this is only good for short-term motivation. You cannot force enthusiasm and genuine interest is a powerful motivator for entrepreneurs. For example, your research may indicate there is a burgeoning opportunity for aftermarket Caterpillar components.

But if you aren’t truly passionate about this opportunity, the odds are you won’t pursue it as well and only face setbacks. Your enthusiasm and interest are key assets when you are beginning a business. For starters, if you are interested or passionate about a given field, you probably already know a lot about it, meaning you have a solid foundation.

Don’t forget to take interest into the equation because you’ll be surprised how much more invested you’ll be in your new business.

2. Identify a Market

After you’ve determined which field or enterprise you’re passionate about, you must identify the market you can sell goods and services to. The term “market” is often thrown around when talking about businesses, but it’s a huge term that has plenty of nuances.

A market is not a monolithic thing that you can target by itself. In fact, you need to determine smaller segments in any market. This is called a niche market and it’s essential you identify your business’s niche market. This is because it’s much more effective for your business to tailor-fit itself to suit the sensibilities and interests of a very small segment of the population than trying to go with universal appeal.

3. Secure Funding

After you’ve determined your interests and successfully narrowed down which markets you want to pursue, you can now look for appropriate funding. Starting a business, even one out of your own garage or bedroom, requires capital. This represents money and resources you need to get production of goods or services started.

The most common method for securing funding is through taking out business loans. But there are other possibilities. If you have enough resources or savings, you could try to personally finance your enterprise. However, this puts your own finances in peril is highly discouraged.

You could also look for possible investors who could give you the capital you need in exchange for a cut off your profits. Determine which method of financing is the most appropriate for your situation and pursue it.

4. Look for Partners

If you are new to the world of business, you will probably need some form of guidance and a more experienced partner will be an indispensable asset. Partners come in many forms in the world of business.

For example, there are silent partners who only get a share of the profits but do not have a say in the active management of the business.

If you feel you’re at sea with the more complicated portions of running an enterprise, you will want to find a partner who can give you the advice you need. Or you can hire more experienced people to bed the chief executive officer of the business. This allows you to retain ownership and highest decision-making powers while leaving the business at the hands of a more experienced individual.

5. Plan for Expansion

Finally, always plan for expansion, no matter how humble your business’s origins. For example, you could begin a business by distressing jeans. Although you could make a few hundred bucks doing this, you can always dream bigger.

Determine what your market wants aside from distressed jeans. Calculate how much capital you’ll need to expand your business. What materials and equipment will you require to double production? Will you need to find more investors if you want to open a second location? What sort of timeline are you looking at for your eventual expansion?

Always plan for these things to ensure your business has an upward trajectory rather than remaining stale.

Starting a new business requires bravery, determination and planning. These tips will help you make sure your new business has everything it needs to get off the ground successfully.