How to Ensure You Have Happy and Productive Employees

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As a manager of a team, your primary responsibility is to make sure the people working for you are doing the best work they can be and are inspired to come to work every day to do so. If you’re doing your job well, your team will, in turn, do theirs well and will be more productive, efficient, and overall happier with their jobs. Happy employees mean less turnover, which can save the company money in the long-term — it’s a win-win for everyone.

The challenge is to balance managing and leading a team while still being able to find time to get your own daily task list completed. Maybe you were thrust into a management position without prior experience or much knowledge, or had to lead a team before and are still looking for new ways to be efficient, but regardless, there are some easy ways to ensure your employees are happy at work without spending too much of your time.

Be authentic

Nobody wants to be around someone they can tell is acting fake, nor would they trust that person and turn to them with work-related issues or to help solve a problem. Don’t come to work with a “work persona” or with a face on, but rather be yourself and be genuine – people can certainly tell the difference.

Lead the team how you’re comfortable doing so, not based on how others lead or by trying to copy a leadership style that doesn’t work for you. Find your groove instead of trying to mimic someone else’s, and your employees will value that, as well as feel they can be themselves at work too.

Appreciate good work

When someone feels as though they put in a good effort and don’t get recognized for it, they can quickly feel undervalued and start looking elsewhere for work. Colleagues are often caught up in their own workload that they don’t take the time to offer recognition to each other, so step up and be the one who appreciates and congratulates an employee on doing well at their job. It will ensure motivation levels are high, and also set the bar and encourage other employees to do the same, which fosters a positive and empowering environment for everyone. Even a simple “good job” can make a big difference.

Have a good break area

Taking a break from work helps relax your mind, detach from the stresses of the day or problem at hand, and then come back at it with a refreshed brain, ready to tackle it again. It can also help people take a look at a problem from a new angle they wouldn’t have thought of if they had sat there racking their brain for hours on end.

Having a space to encourage breaks, like a family-style kitchen eating area with a big table and chairs, or a “fun room” with activities like a foosball table, books, board or card games, or a fully stocked mini-fridge. Also, having water coolers around the office encourages employees to get up every once in a while to stretch their legs and grab a drink, and maybe socialize for a bit with a colleague.

If you have the boss’s ear, advocate for a good and fun employee break area. Or, you are the one who runs the show at work, maybe it’s time to rearrange some furniture or even get to remodeling the office space. It may seem like a big upfront cost, but happy employees are more productive, efficient, and you’ll have less turnover to account for.

How To Keep Hold Of Your Top Performers

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article|Top Performers |How To Keep Hold Of Your Top PerformersIf you want your business to grow and compete with the bigger names in your industry, then it is vital that you are able to keep hold of your top performers. It can be frustrating when you have talented, hard-working, and passionate staff but lose them to another company as this can have such an enormous impact on many areas of the company. It is hard to retain your top performers particularly if you cannot match the wages that they could command elsewhere, but there are a few effective strategies to try which can encourage staff loyalty – here are a few ideas:

Create An Enjoyable Working Environment

Although it is a major influencer, money is not everything when it comes to working. People spend so much of their time at work, which means that this needs to be somewhere that they feel happy and content. You can do this by creating an enjoyable working environment in the office so that people enjoy working together and come to work each morning feeling happy and content.

Provide Progression Opportunities

The top performers are also the ones that are the most driven, so you need to make sure that you are providing them space to grow and progress within the company. Otherwise, they could have their head turned when they have gone as far as they can within the business. Look to promote from within and offer higher salaries to keep hold of your top performers.

Work Perks

You might not be able to match the wages that the command elsewhere but you can offer a range of benefits to staying with your company. This might include flexible working, employee discounts, benefits, gym membership, and various other perks.

Employee Awards

Nobody wants to stay in a job where they do not feel valued, especially if they are a top performer. It is for this reason why you must recognize and celebrate their hard work, and one excellent way to do this is with employee awards ceremonies. You can have engraved/glass awards produced and hand these out in a fun social event which can recognize hard work as well as bring the team closer together.

Challenge Them

Those that perform best in the workplace are the ones that are smart, driven, and ambitious. This means that you need to keep them challenged so that they do not get bored with their role. In addition to progression opportunities, you can also do this with new projects, setting them targets, giving them under-performers to mentor and any new task to keep them engaged. In addition to keeping them motivated and interested, this can lighten your own workload and help the company to succeed.

Keeping hold of your top performers is something that most business owners have to worry about particular if they are a smaller company that cannot offer huge salaries. Although it is hard to compete with larger salaries, there are strategies that you can use to retain your top performers with the above being a few of the more effective methods to try.

Ensure Your Team Works Well Together

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Working as a Team|Ensure Your Team Works Well TogetherIf you are leading any kind of business, you need to be fully aware of the ways in which teams work, and make sure that those you are looking after are working together as best as they can. There are a lot of issues that might get in the way of a team working harmoniously, and it’s something that you are going to need to be aware of if you want your business to succeed in general. As long as the team is working as a unit, the work will be done much more effectively, and your business will benefit greatly from that. Let’s take a look at some of the things you might want to do to ensure that your teams are all working as well as they could be.

Lead Them Strongly

A good team requires a strong leader, so this is the first thing to make sure of if you are looking for your teams to work as well as possible together. If you feel that you have what it takes to be a strong leader, then you just need to work on the specific skills that will make you one. That will mean that you need to develop a general sense of confidence and magnetism, so that people will tend to follow you and appreciate what you say. You also have to have the required knowledge for the kind of work that you are expecting your team to carry out, so you can actually help them to do so with a great deal of understanding. A good leader is not afraid to get down and dirty in the work, but also knows how and when to delegate. It’s also vital that you can approach a basic reward and punishment scheme so that your employees know what you expect of them. As long as you can lead your teams strongly, you will know that you are probably getting the most out of them.

Share The Work

Nobody should feel as though they are carrying the weight of the team on their own shoulders. If anyone does feel this way, it certainly means that something has gone wrong somewhere, and as such you will need to find a way to make it fairer again. You need to make sure that you are sharing the work out amongst the people in the team as fairly as possible, paying special attention to anyone who might have particular skills and so on along the way. By sharing the work in this way, everyone will feel that they are treated equally, and you will be able to ensure that your team is working as well as it should. But how can you make sure that you are actually getting this right?

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Working as a Team|Ensure Your Team Works Well TogetherTo begin with, you should look into finding a way to plan shifts out easily and fairly. If you are struggling to plan out shifts, then it can easily mean that you are going to struggle to keep it fair, as it is hard to keep track of what is going on. That’s why something like Deputy’s shift planning app can be a great boost to a team, because it means that you can easily allocate shifts in a way which is fair and open to all, and that you can even allow team members to simply switch shifts amongst themselves if they need to. Not only does that make life easier for them in general, but it ensures that the work is being shared.

It’s not just about shifts, of course. You also need to make sure that the actual workload is being shared equally. The only way to really make sure of that is to find some way to quantify the work, and then you can just look at the basic arithmetic of it. Then if anyone has a complaint, you can go through it together mathematically and see what is going on with the workload. This is important for people to feel that they are being treated fairly.

Be Personable

Teams always work together much better if they are actually friends with each other, or at least can be civil in a basic way that you would expect in an adult workplace. For this reason, it’s good for you to set the example by always be sociable and personable with the people in your teams. That will set the trend, and hopefully people will get to know each other and then be able to work together much better for it. You might even help this process along by trying to organize a few social events with your work colleagues. That can make a huge difference to how well the teams work together.

8 Reasons Why You Should Recruit Recent College Graduates

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |College Graduates|8 Reasons Why You Should Recruit Recent College GraduatesMost companies wrongly believe that they should recruit experienced candidates only. But the truth is that a talented college graduate can become a better employee, than an applicant with ten years’ experience.

If you doubt whether recent graduate can benefit your company, read this article. Here are eight reasons, which prove that if you hire a young, ambitious candidate, you will make the right choice.

Cheap labor force

Let’s be frank. A recent college graduate doesn’t expect to get as high salary as a professional with 20 years of experience under its belt. So if your company operate on a tight budget, don’t hesitate to hire a graduate. It will save you lots of money.

The truth is that new graduates deal with a Catch-22 situation. To get a job, they need experience. And to gain at least some experience, they need to land a job. And it’s very challenging for an inexperienced applicant to break this circle.

So it’s not a surprise that some recent college graduates are ready to work almost for free. They are interested in gaining experience more than earning money. Why don’t you take advantage of it?

Benefits and perks

If you run a small business, it’s highly likely that you can’t offer such benefits as health insurance and retirement plan to your employees. But it’s not a big deal when it comes to recruiting recent graduates. Graduates will not decline your offer just because you can’t pay for dental insurance and vision care.

The trick is that most young professionals have no concerns regarding their health and retirement. If you want to win their attention, you can offer such small bonuses such as free coffee and cookies.

But keep in mind that you should always be open and honest with the applicants. Don’t try to trick the naïve college graduates. If you don’t provide insurance or other perks, just state it clearly.

Ambitious

Recent graduates are ambitious and dedicated to work. And they tend to set high career goals. They are ready to work really hard to get promoted.

As a rule, young people don’t mind to stay at the office after 6 p.m. or work on weekends. They clearly understand that their theoretical knowledge is not enough to build an outstanding career.

So they work as hard as they can to gain more experience and to present their talents in the most favorable light. They dream of being noticed.

So if you are looking for a dedicated, hardworking employee, you know what to do. Hire a recent college graduate and provide him with opportunities to gain more experience.

Learn fast

Naturally, young graduates are the most effective learners. They are able to absorb new knowledge and master new skills much faster than others.

So if you are going to implement a new training program, or incorporate new sophisticated software, you need graduates in your team. They will learn everything fast and then will pass knowledge to other team members.

Does your company operate in the industry, where it’s crucial to apply innovative solutions as soon as they appear in the market? If yes, then it’s crucially important to invite new graduates to your team. They will help your current employees to adapt to a new system.

Business trips

Are you looking for an employee, who will be able to travel a lot? You can look no further than recent graduates. As a rule, they have no kids and no family. So they are not attached to the place.

If you need someone who will never complain about having ten business trips a month, hire a graduate. You can be sure that it will be the right choice.

As you know, most young people like to travel, so they will be happy to accept your job offer. However, you should never hide information about the frequency of business trips. Also, you should be ready to answer all the questions related to travel expenses.

Educate new leaders

Most corporations like to hire recent college graduates. They also offer plenty of internship programs. Do you know why?
Big companies don’t want to attract leaders from the outside. They prefer to grow their own leaders who know the company from the inside. They need someone who will not break the existing corporate culture but keep developing it.

If you want to achieve success in the long run, you should also try to grow leadership from within your company. To hit this goal, you should recruit recent college graduates and do the following:

  • Empower new employees through mentorship
  • Delegate as many tasks as possible
  • Be patient and don’t set too high expectations. A new employee will not turn to be a perfect leader overnight
    Grab the talents

A successful company is always about the right set of employees. The more talents you have in your team, the more likely your business will be profitable in the long run.

An effective talent acquisition strategy is a must in the following situations:

  • Your company operates in the following sectors: technologies, medicine, or financial management
  • Your company faces intense competition
  • Your company is growing fast

It’s important to understand that an applicant shouldn’t be experienced to be talented. If you believe that a young graduate has great potential, recruit him without having any doubts. Otherwise, your competitors will do it instead of you.
As you know, there is always a lack of true talents. So if you miss an opportunity to hire a brilliant college student today, you will regret that later.

Creativity

College graduates are able to take a new look at old problems, which exist in your company. They can help you to find a brand new solution and optimize major business processes.

The point is that inexperienced employees tend to see everything from another angle. They are curious about everything that is happening in the company.

Graduates are like superheroes. They have a super ability to spot the issues, which you haven’t been noticing for years.

Life experience

Also, you shouldn’t forget one important thing. If a college graduate doesn’t have work experience, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have experience at all.

Let’s say your company is looking for a content marketer. One of the applicants is 23 years old girl Jessica. She has just graduated from college. Consequently, she has no working experience.

However, it’s known that she was a volunteer at found raising organization where she was responsible for managing social media accounts. Also, she had a freelance job – she was a moderator at college essay editing service reviews website.

Well, these skills and experience are not enough for taking a management job. But if you want to add “new blood” to your marketing team, Jessica will be a perfect fit.

Wrapping it up

As you can see, it’s not a bad idea to recruit college graduates. If you choose the right candidates, they will help you to take your company to the next level.

Don’t hesitate to invite young professionals to your team. Provide them with the opportunity of career growth and they will move your business up.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Daniela McVickerDaniela McVicker is a freelance writer, blogger, and a contributor to RatedByStudents. She graduated from Durham University and has an MA in psychological science. Her passion is traveling and finding ways to enrich students’ learning experience.

Why You Need to Boost Productivity in Your Office

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Productivity|Why You Need to Boost Productivity in Your OfficeWhen you run a business, there’s a lot that you need to think about. You might start your day with a massive to-do list, that only seems to get longer as the day goes on and more problems are brought to your attention. Every time you cross one thing off the list, two more jobs might get added. You might have to spend time dealing with customers and suppliers, as well as keeping your team members happy and coming up with new ideas. Your days are busy, and it can feel as though there is no time to take anything else on.

On these occasions, finding ways to boost productivity might not seem like a priority. But it’s usually one of the very best things that you do. Believe it or not, increasing your own productivity, as well as the productivity of your team on the whole, using an online data room and other tools, can help you to deal with all of those other issues, and simplify your days. Let’s take a look at just some of the reasons why you should commit to boosting productivity.

To Get More Done in Less Time

Getting more done in less time is something that many of us dream about. It would both give us more free time, letting us take more time off to do the things that we love, and allow us to spend our time on more creative enterprises and finding ways to improve and grow our business. If you had to spend less time on menial tasks, you would be free to spend more time doing the things that you enjoy, or more creative pursuits that only you can do.

Being more productive is the answer. If your whole office were more productive, everyone would get more done, with less time wasted and spent unfocused. Everyone could work shorter days, take longer breaks and spend more time doing the things that push your business forward. Get more done in less time, and you’ll also have the chance to earn more money.

To Keep Your Staff Happy

Staff morale and productivity go hand in hand. If morale is low, and your staff are unhappy, they won’t be able to work productively. They’ll be unfocused, they’ll waste time and procrastinate, and their work will be poor. Each task will take longer than it should.

But, equally, a team that works productively will be happier. If they’ve got more time, and they feel as though they are working well, getting a lot done and making the most of their time, their mood will be improved. This can rub off on the rest of the team.

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Productivity|Why You Need to Boost Productivity in Your OfficeTo Reduce Mistakes

Working more productively can also mean that fewer mistakes are made, which again, will increase productivity further as less time is spent redoing things and correcting errors.

A productive team that is happy, motivated and focused will make fewer mistakes. They won’t be flustered or confused. They’ll feel positive and confident. They won’t doubt themselves, and they’ll be happy to ask for help or guidance if they need it.

To Streamline Processes

These are another two that work hand in hand. If your office systems are streamlined and easy, your staff will be able to follow them easily, making fewer mistakes and working well. Thus, boosting productivity.

But, a productive office that makes fewer mistakes and is less flustered will be able to streamline their own work. They’ll be able to find better ways to do things, to cut unnecessary tasks and to find their own ways to work, which suit their style. Give your staff the freedom to work their way and productivity will be boosted.

To Improve Quality

A productive workforce that makes fewer mistakes and is confident in their own abilities will do quality work. The standard of work will improve, and your customers will be able to tell the difference.

So, we can see that boosting productivity is a must, but how are you going to do it? Well, a few techniques that you could try include letting your staff take regular breaks and allowing them to work more flexible hours. Keeping your workspace bright and open and operating an open door policy. Being an understanding boss, who your staff are happy to come to and confide in, will also be a big help. Other things that you could do include removing negativity from the office, increasing natural light, adding plants and other colors and simplifying systems, so that peoples jobs are as easy as possible. Really, you need to try things out, to see what productivity-boosting ideas work best for your company and your team.