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Smooth HR Equals Smooth Business Growth

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In the business world, growth relies on a team of knowledgeable and experienced professionals. Naturally, the quality of the service or product, the success of the marketing campaigns, and the satisfaction of the customers and partners also play an essential role. But there is no denying that a company that is struggling with finding the appropriate talent or retaining essential skills in-house will also experience a slow or even negative growth. After all, a business is made of people, and it is them who create the necessary additional value. Therefore the performance of the HR department matters hugely to support business expansion. Often overlooked or labeled as the department responsible for internal policies only, the HR has essential tasks to perform successfully in the business structure: From a recruitment process that identifies the right candidate for the job to the effective organization of the team structure. And that is without mentioning the abilities to run useful employee retention policies.

At A Recruiting Level

When it comes to the recruitment process, the HR team is responsible for the job advertisement. While it can be designed in collaboration with the relevant manager, in truth, HR is in charge of defining the job perks that are likely to attract candidates. It is essential at this stage to be realistic. Free gym membership, free coffee, fancy IT devices, company cars, and much more, are among the most common perks to be found in job specs. However, most candidates would happily exchange the latest MacBook against flexible time, as their values have evolved. Additionally, when it comes to the choice of the right candidate, most companies now prefer to use the cover letter as a gauge. Yet this doesn’t mean that the resume doesn’t count: It is used to identify the suitable skills and experience.

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article
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At An Organizational Level

StrategyDriven Talent Management ArticleWithin the company, HR continues to make sense of the internal teams for all, especially in large companies where it can be difficult to keep track of everyone. In these organizations, creating an org chart is a mammoth task that needs to be updated with every employee who leaves, changes function, or is hired. However, there are tools, such as the Pingboard org chart software solution, that enable the HR team to complete the chart in a matter of minutes, saving time for more urgent projects. Finally, it is essential that the HR provides each new employee with an information pack and ensures that an introduction day or week – depending on the size of the company – is planned for the newcomer.

Limiting Staff Turnover For A Healthy Structure

Last, but not least, it also falls under the HR responsibility to work on employee retention concepts. This requires regular measurements of job satisfaction, stress level, and team integration, as well as internal communication. It is more expensive to launch a new recruitment process than to try to fix existing issues. With this in mind, the HR needs to help develop recognition models that go beyond monetary rewards, and identify structural issues that turn off new employees, such as excessive micromanagement or disinterested team manager.

Organization chart photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Find Success By Fixing It with Flexibility

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article
Photo courtesy of Mink Bürsten via Wikimedia

One of the best ways to survive in business is to be prepared for anything. Being able to adapt when you need to, whether it’s by growing, cutting back, or changing direction, will help you to stay on your feet. You never know what might happen in business, from the economy taking a downturn to interest in your product starting to fade. If you can keep your company as flexible as possible, you can change it to fit the current conditions. There are lots of ways you can make your business flexible so that when a challenge comes along, you can meet it in whichever way seems best.

Build an Expandable Website

Every business needs a website in the modern age, and it needs to do more than be a static advert for your services. Your website should advertise your business, but it should also allow visitors to interact with it and find out more about you. For a flexible business, a flexible website is essential. You want to be able to change it and add to it whenever you want without too much hassle. Using WordPress is one great way to be able to do this because it allows you do almost anything. You can use a service like Spark Logix Studios WordPress to build you a site you can easily expand. Once you have your site, it’s easy for you to change it yourself.

Go Mobile

Mobile technology is now playing a very important role in business. It’s necessary to meet the needs of customers, who are now increasingly using mobile devices. However, it’s also essential for businesses to consider as a benefit on its own. Mobile technology makes it easier for you to do business whenever and wherever you want. If it’s cheaper to move your business somewhere else, it’s much easier if you can access everything you need online. As well as thinking about mobile tech, you shouldn’t forget about remote working. If everyone you work with can work from anywhere, it’s much easier to expand your business.

Keep Up with Your Industry

If you want your business to be flexible, you need to keep your finger on the pulse. It’s important not just to have a flexible business but to know when it’s a good idea to consider a change. You should try to keep up with the latest happenings in your industry, as well as in the economy as a whole. You need to know what could be on the horizon.

Diversify Your Products

Focusing all your efforts on one product or service isn’t always the best idea. If something starts to go wrong, your business could be over. You should consider diversifying your products or services so that you’re not too reliant on only one thing. Adding to your business’s repertoire could help you to survive in more difficult times. It provides a safety net, and could even end up taking your business in a different direction.

A flexible business is one that could survive for longer in a tough market. Be prepared to change if you’re looking for success.

Managing Your International Team Without Letting Go Of The Reins

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Many business owners understand the enormous benefits of having sales teams based in their international territories. Unfortunately, there are also a large number of disadvantages to recruiting internationally. Global operations can feel too distant and remote. Soon you may feel like you have to let go of the heart of your business and allow these international offices to become their own entity. That simply isn’t the case, if you know how to tackle the challenges of remote working effectively.

Managing your international teams can be easier than you think. The situation calls for you to manage your own time so that you can be available to them as they need you. That’s challenging enough in your own territory without having to worry about time zone differences as well. If you hate to travel, or you simply don’t have the time, you need to find other ways to personally communicate with your teams. Fortunately, technology has the answers.

Video conferencing gives you the chance to view the room and better measure the reactions and mood of your distant team. When you summon the entire office to a meeting, it confirms you’re the one in charge and you’re not letting go of the reins. Do this weekly, so you are continuously and reliably available to discuss issues. Try not to treat it just like a meeting, but instead make it less formal. Chat about local issues both there and here. Catch up on a personal level with the key members of your international team.

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Photo courtesy of Andreas Gohr via flickr

Personnel challenges are common when you’re not there in person. It can be too tricky to route all your HR function through your local head office. Instead, you might find it useful to consult experts in global payroll to ensure you are meeting local requirements at home and abroad. You should also outsource your recruitment drives to local providers to ensure you don’t make any cultural or legal faux pas.

Training your remote team can be particularly challenging when you’re not there. You will need excellent resources to guide the team (potentially in their local language) through your preferred business practices. Their understanding and compliance must be tested, so don’t be afraid to set up a couple of exams or practical tests. Again, video calls are very useful here. You can set up a webinar that offers the opportunity for feedback and interaction while you present your ideas. Contracting an educational video production company could be very useful here.

Ultimately, you’re going to need someone to take the lead in your overseas office. This individual may be a sales manager so helping them to become a good leader as well takes some careful planning. They may need your guidance and coaching. You may even become their mentor, but you need to clearly draw the line when it comes to their limitations. You’re the boss, and the buck ultimately stops with you. Make it clear which issues they can seek to resolve themselves, and which must go over their head directly to you.

Managing an overseas team has its challenges, but it’s not impossible. A global presence can help you reach the territories you need with success. How do you manage yours?

Take Your Business Online

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A strong presence in the world of the Internet is a necessity for the businesses of today. As a business owner, you probably already know that. You’ve probably created your business a website, and all the social media handles to match. You’ve probably liked a few photos, ran a few competitions and uploaded a few videos. But there’s so much more your business can do online. In fact, there’s a world wide web of opportunities out there. Below are just some of the things you should consider when it comes to taking your business online.

As a business owner you want to make profit from the goods you sell, right? Well then, there’s no better place to start than with e-commerce. Setting up a stall in the Internet marketplace is an online option that all manner of business owners are taking to in this day and age. And it’s no wonder they are when you consider how easy it is. All you need to do is find a service that will cater to your e-commerce needs and help you create your own marketplace and you’re up and running. An example of such a service is Shopify. They can help when it comes to building your site, ensuring that is is mobile friendly and making it as easy to customise as possible. And once you’ve set up your marketplace it’s time to decide upon the most important aspect: what you are selling. When it comes to this you should most certainly have a snoop at your competition. To find your competition simply search for the keywords linked to your marketplace on a search engine and, voila! They’ll appear. Once you find them take a look at what they’re selling, how much they are selling and how much they are selling it all for. And you should also take notes on a host of other things on your competitor’s site too. This includes taking notes on the overall theme of the site in order to figure out how to make your store as user-friendly as possible. Scribbling down information on how they are linking back to their parent website. And jotting down anything that you think contributes to their USP (unique selling point). You need to come up with a USP of your own, but there’s nothing wrong with drawing inspiration from the USPs of others.

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Photo courtesy of Max Pixel

And if you haven’t dipped your business’s toe into the pool of blogging yet, then you should most certainly do so. Blogs have turned into big business in recent times. So big in fact that some businesses have taken to hiring somebody that is known as a webmaster in order to keep their blog active. Blogs allow consumers to access and interact with like minded people. They allow consumers to see the development of a business in real-time. They allow them to feel close to the business. If you want to induce a healthy and incredibly modern relationship with your customers, then starting a blog should be at the forefront of your plans.

So, if you want to increase your business’s ROI and it’s relationship with it’s customers, make sure to take heed of the advice above! The Internet offers a plethora of opportunities for a business to thrive upon it, you just have to be brave enough to embrace the digital age to take them.

Recruitment Strategies – What To Look For In A Resume

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These days any employer advertising a post knows they will be inundated with applications. That mean you will have a large number of resumes to sort through before you can narrow down your choice of candidates for interview. This can obviously take a long time. Many recruiters choose to use recruitment agencies or talent scouts to select the very best talent to come into the office for an interview. It can take a lot of the time and hassle out of the process, but there will be a cost added. If you’re currently recruiting, what do you look for in a resume?

Cover Page

Many recruiters read only the covering letter to gauge whether a candidate will be right. This can be a little naive though, as it will only give very brief information. Still, it should provide an insight into the level of professionalism you can expect. Spelling errors are simply unacceptable to recruiters today. Some won’t accept anything that isn’t personally addressed to the manager. A cover letter should offer you enough detail that you want to read on.

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The First Paragraph

Many resumes feature an introduction paragraph designed to sell that candidate to recruiters. Not everyone is a great marketer, and self-promotion can be difficult for some. Still, a candidate with the confidence and clarity to identify relevant qualifications and achievements in a single paragraph could be worthy of an interview. Look for insights into the candidate’s personality in their writing style. Sometimes quirky, chatty styles fit well in the company.

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article
Photo courtesy of WOCInTech Chat via flickr

Qualifications

Some companies have strict policies about the schools they will recruit from. Others simply demand a degree. The qualifications should be clearly listed so you can quickly identify the level of education for the candidate. You should be able to see any recent continuance of studies. Some colleges like UAB offer degrees online. Candidates that study this way can manage work and study in tandem and so might be of more interest to demanding employers.

Work Experience

Do you frown upon candidates with gaps in their work history? There are many reasons why a potential recruit had time away from work. Before you completely dismiss them, consider how rounded their experience might be. Have they taken on non-salaried projects? Perhaps they were studying, raising a family, or running their own business? If they’re unemployed now, consider the benefits of a well-rested candidate!

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article
Photo courtesy of Kathryn Decker via flickr

The Closing Paragraph

If you’ve read this far, chances are this candidate has piqued your interest. Now they have a chance to let you know if their personality could be a fit for your firm. This final paragraph often offers an insight into their hobbies and interests outside of the workplace. We’re all trained to include something artistic and something that suggests we look after our health. You might ignore those references because every resume has them. What else can you find that fits in well with the culture of the company, the products you develop, and the customer base you’ve built?

Recruitment is expensive and time-consuming. It’s important to find candidates that are right for the business. That’s not easy without a recruitment strategy.