Caring management 101

Your customers and employees want to feel cared about, don’t they? They want to be supported by a caring management. Especially during challenging times when everyone is struggling to navigate forward. 

Today, we see a lot of companies facing devastating losses. And the most critical loss your business can face is the loss of your best employees. Your business is nothing without your employees’ hard work and commitment. Therefore, it’s vital for you to make sure your people have everything they need to stay positive and productive. 

We’re living in uncertain times which leads to increased anxiety. For example, it’s hard to answer questions like when things will get back to normal or whether to reopen economies or not. In such circumstances having a toxic work environment can take a toll on your employees’ mental health. 

As a manager or business leader, how do you take care of your employees? Do you have any strategy to ensure a healthy organizational climate? Are you a caring manager? 

In this post, we will talk about caring management, why your company needs it, and what you can do to be a caring manager. 

What is Caring Management? 

Caring management is all about how an organization treats its employees. Is management at your company caring? Or, are you a caring manager? 

It’s critical to answer these questions because how you treat your employees has a direct impact on your reputation and bottom line. 

Organizations now experience increased scrutiny from customers, media, and other stakeholders for hidden organizational practices. They have access to key information like your sexual harassment policies, wages, or involvement in political issues. In addition, social media is a great platform for people to voice their concerns. 

When consumers talk about a business, the top five things they talk about include how a business treats its people. People speak out against businesses they believe are irresponsible or unfair. Small social media influencers with hundreds and thousands of followers can have a serious impact on your employer brand. 

So, as a leader, you must take your employment practices seriously as they shape brand perceptions. If your employees are not happy with the way you treat them, it can damage your efforts to attract more talented people. 

Caring management can solve these issues with ease. It will take some hard work to understand what employees are going through and what kind of care they need to solve their professional challenges. 

All you need is a culture of caring which is only possible when your management is kind and compassionate. Here are some signs of caring management: 

What is A Culture of Caring Management?

Wondering what is a culture of caring? 

A culture of caring goes beyond how you treat your workers. It involves several things: managers caring about employees, employees caring for each other, and customers. Also, how your employees care for your vision or company’s purpose. 

A culture of caring matters because it has a direct impact on your business's success. Besides, how you engage with your workers can have an impact on productivity, retention, and absenteeism. 

Most importantly. Your company culture can impact your customer experience. If your employees are happy, they will try their best to make your customers happy. 

Related: The Key to Happy Customers? Happy Employees 

Creating a Culture of Caring Management 

A candid, genuine, and mutually respectful conversation is the starting point of a culture of caring. You need to invest some time talking to your employees and understanding their problems. Quarterly performance reviews are surely not enough to engage your employees. 

You need to learn how to listen while having group or one-on-one conversations with your employees, whether you have them digitally or face-to-face. 

Your employees’ well-being should be prioritized over your short-term revenue goals. Be willing to adjust your strategies to make things easier for your staff. 

Extract insights from those conversations and implement what you learn. If your employees are facing a workplace-related issue, make sure to resolve it. For example, if your workplace is not inclusive, take concrete steps to make it welcoming and caring. 

Happiness and Work 

Tech giants are often seen investing in employee support and job satisfaction. It’s possible to develop a scientifically controlled work environment where workers are happier and more productive. Science says happy employees are more productive. 

A study from the University of Warwick suggests that human happiness positively impacts productivity. It also identifies that unhappy workers are 10% less productive. 

Gallup finds out that 70% of Us employees don’t feel engaged in their workplace which cost companies $550 billion lost in productivity. 

Now, it's your job to figure out what makes your employees engaged and happy. Small things can make big differences. Certain strategies can help you develop a more friendly, caring culture. We will talk about them later in this blog. 

The Cost of Being a Caring Manager 

Before identifying ways to become a caring manager, let’s quickly identify the cost of being a caring manager. 

Let’s imagine that you started a role as a new manager at some company. One of your direct reports stops by for a chat. At first, you have no idea what this conversation is all about. However, as the chat progresses, you realize that this is about a personal issue. 

Your report wants to share how difficult it is for him to take care of their elderly parents whose health is deteriorating rapidly and he doesn’t know how to manage everything. He asks this question, “Do you have any advice for me”?

How would you respond to that question? You’re likely to be distressed and less engaged at work that day. 

Studies show that leaders spend as much time as 2.5 hours each week responding to such situations. Many employees prefer to approach their managers or leaders when they face emotional issues at work and they need assistance. 

However, responding to employees' personal issues and requests can affect your mood and performance at work. It is so because personal issues are often distressing and uncomfortable. Managers may find such requests inappropriate and disruptive because they have nothing to do with the work. 

It’s a real challenge to manage an employee who is going through a stressful period. 

Do you still need to be caring? 

On the bright side, when you feel like your support has a positive impact on the lives of your employees, you will feel better and experience a positive mood. Highly experienced leaders are good at managing such situations and they spend more time helping their employees with personal issues. 

How to Apply Caring Management

If you really want to be a part of caring management, you need to decide how you want your team to view you. Perception is an important factor for managers. In most cases, managers choose to be dominant, closed-off, and stoic and loud-mouthed. 

If you’re one of them avoiding a personal connection with employees, take a step back and rethink the way you manage people. Because you are likely to lose the benefit of a dedicated, long-term team if you don’t make your employee feel valued. 

Not sure how to show your employees that you care? Let’s take a look at these strategies that can show your appreciation for your people: 

Don’t Act Like You’re Above Your Employees  

How would your employees feel if you have your own parking spaces and you make them carry your luggage when traveling? It is considered bad management behaviour when managers don’t relate to their subordinates and act like they are superior. Good managers with true leadership skills care about their people and prioritize their interests above anything else. 

So, when your employees are having a problem, talk about it. Tell them how you had gone through similar situations. Expressing your own failures, vulnerability, and imperfections help your employees overcome their challenges. 

Listen First 

When you intend to speak to a worker about their struggles, be sure to listen first instead of immediately recommending something. Ask them what both of you can do together to address the issue. It’s helpful to use the word “we”.  For example, “How we can support you”. 

Help Them 

There’s nothing wrong with going above and beyond to personally help your workers. While assisting your employees with work-related issues is a part of your job, you should help them with their personal issues as well. For example, referring employees to appropriate resources can be greatly helpful. 

People go through life events that distract them from work; for example, the death of a friend, divorce, or an ailing family member. In such situations, you can support them emotionally so that they are able to focus on work while dealing with life events. 

Tell Them You Care About Their Personal Life 

It’s possible to demonstrate your care for employees’ personal life without meeting up for an all-night drinking binge. The objective here is to let your people know that you don’t just see them as worker bees. 

Back Your Workers Up With Clients 

What will you do if an employee complains about inappropriate client behaviour? Companies that care about employees will look into the matter and fire a client if needed no matter how much they’re paying. When you back your employees, your company will be rewarded with a return higher than what your client could ever offer you. 

Be Honest 

You need to be transparent and real in your day-to-day interactions with your employees. For example, if they ask for feedback, be honest. Don’t make stuff up. Also, you don’t have to be unkind when communicating feedback. Hiding the truth will only hurt your employees and company. 

Being transparent can sometimes lead to uncomfortable conversations. Take those conversations as an opportunity to deliver the truth and help your employees improve. 

Make Time 

When you are too busy to have a simple chat with your team, it will make it hard for your employees to feel appreciated. So, don’t appear too busy for workers around you. Have regular conversations with your people as a token of respect and appreciation. 

Pay Attention to Details 

We often undermine the value of small things. Sending a quick email to your team after a win can go a long way. Your team needs to be appreciated and acknowledged for all the hard work they put in to make your company successful. Events like Christmas and Thanksgiving are also an opportunity for you to express your appreciation and send them best wishes. 

Just compose a few sentences and send them over to your team members to explain why you value them. If you’ve got nothing to appreciate or you can’t think of anything you care about and value about your people, consider it a red flag. 

Welcome New Ideas 

Your workers can have great ideas on how to improve your business or overcome challenges. Listen to them and appreciate their interest in your business. If you want to encourage your employees to share their thoughts, create opportunities for them to speak up. 

Don’t Overpromise 

Set expectations carefully. You can’t effectively practice the above-mentioned strategies if you’re not aware of the expectations you set. Managers and business owners are prone to overpromising results to workers, which eventually leads to trouble. So, set realistic expectations. 

Know What You Can Offer 

When it comes to business, there are certain limits. You may be willing to give a grieving employee an option to work from home or several weeks of leave. But it’s not always your decision. Your company’s rules and regulations might not allow for things you want to do for your employees. Therefore, make sure you understand what’s possible and what's not. 

The Role of HR 

Your HR department can play a crucial role in creating a caring environment. For example, they’re involved in planning and executing employee experience plans. Make sure to equip your HR department with all the resources and tools they need to ensure an excellent employee experience. 

Here are 4 ways HR can impact company culture: 

What is the Culture of Kindness? 

Small acts of kindness are of great help when it comes to ensuring caring management. Kindness culture is when all of your people, including senior management, care about each other and are willing to go the extra mile to develop a better workplace. 

The following are 4 ways to create a culture of empathy and kindness: 

Final Thoughts on Caring Management

The need for bringing more humanity, social connection, and care to the employees’ experience is gaining momentum. Caring management is critical because talented workers look for value-based recognition and a healthy manager-employee relationship. It’s an era of leaders - the time for bosses is gone. 

Successful leaders care about their people. They don’t hesitate to invest efforts to make contributions at all levels. Follow them. Learn how to create a balance between doses of kindness and overall business outcome. Help your employees enjoy what they do. Remember, you need to be a great leader, not a friend. 

Is a Manager Meant to be a Psychologist?

“The best manager I have ever had”. Many of us have uttered or heard this phrase at some point in our lives. But what does it truly signify? What distinguishes a good manager from a bad one?

You may have come across numerous literary works that emphasize the qualities and traits of effective leaders and managers. However, little attention has been given to the psychology, daily interactions, and decision-making processes that enable managers to bring out the best in their employees.

According to Gallup, hiring a manager is the most critical decision organizations make. Unfortunately, most companies end up hiring the wrong manager, with a staggering 82% of hiring decisions resulting in mismatched talent. Furthermore, research suggests that 70% of individuals in management roles lack the necessary skills for the job. 

Bad managers cost companies billions of dollars annually and can even lead to the downfall of a company if there are too many of them. On the other hand, hiring talented managers can propel your company forward and keep it ahead of the competition.

As an entrepreneur or business leader, your success depends largely on your own or your managers' ability to comprehend the psychology of your employees.

In this blog post, we will explore how a basic understanding of human psychology can enhance managers' performance. We will also delve into different types of managers, the common mistakes they make, and what they should or should not do to become exceptional managers.

How Psychology Enhances Managerial Skills 

Is it necessary to be a psychologist to thrive as a business owner or manager? Why is understanding your employees' personality traits so important?

While it is not mandatory to possess an in-depth knowledge of personality dynamics to be a good business leader, having a basic understanding can significantly facilitate effective management and resolution of interpersonal issues.

When you make an effort to comprehend an employee's internal motivations, it enables you to encourage them to unleash their full potential.

Consider the following example to further illustrate this point:

Suppose you need to provide feedback to one of your employees who prepared a report but missed an important detail. If you possess an understanding of human psychology, you will be mindful of how you deliver the feedback. Employees often perceive feedback as criticism and react accordingly.

Instead of saying, "Hey Becky, you forgot to include last week's numbers in the report; make sure you don't repeat that mistake," you can say, "Hey Becky, you did an excellent job on the report. It would be great if you could include last week's numbers next time."

Your response to a particular situation should be tailored to the individual you are dealing with. For instance, if you have to handle a narcissistic employee, it is crucial to know how to address traits like arrogance and aggression. If firing the narcissist is not an option and they are causing significant problems for the company, your only recourse is to learn how to manage such individuals. For example, you can make them feel special, thereby motivating them to perform at a higher level.

A competent manager is adept at leveraging negative traits and transforming them into assets.

Types of Managers 

What kind of manager are you? How do your team members or employees perceive you? Do you possess qualities that drive employees to excel or become more productive?

There are various types of managers in the business world. Let's explore four types of managers who have demonstrated exceptional performance:

Appreciative Manager: Cultivating a Culture of Recognition

In the workplace, everyone appreciates recognition for their efforts. Employees prefer working with managers who acknowledge and value their work. To demonstrate care and appreciation for your employees and their contributions, creating a culture of recognition is paramount.

Recognizing good work doesn't require a significant time investment. Simple gestures like sending a quick thank-you email or message to individuals who have achieved outstanding results can go a long way. Additionally, meeting employees' emotional needs by appreciating those who come up with innovative ideas fosters a productive and positive work environment.

Receptive to Feedback: Embracing Collaboration and Collective Intelligence

We have all encountered managers who seem disinterested in hearing what their team has to say. Such managers assign work, give orders, and rarely listen to their employees' perspectives on assigned projects. Unfortunately, most managers are not adept listeners, impeding their ability to foster collaboration and gather valuable insights from their team.

Being a receptive manager means actively seeking and embracing feedback from your employees. It involves creating an environment where open communication is encouraged, and team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, concerns, and ideas. When employees know that their opinions are valued and that their feedback can lead to positive changes, they become more engaged and invested in their work.

Receptive managers understand that they don't have all the answers and recognize the power of collective intelligence. They actively seek input from their team members, consider different perspectives, and make informed decisions based on the information gathered. This approach not only enhances problem-solving but also empowers employees, making them feel valued and part of the decision-making process.

Caring Manager: Nurturing Employee Well-being and Growth

Effective managers go beyond their roles and demonstrate genuine care for their employees. It's not enough to simply proclaim care; actions speak louder than words. For example, managers can make a significant impact by sending simple, inexpensive gifts to their team members, creating memorable experiences. Welcoming new employees with a thoughtful welcome kit is another way to make them feel valued and appreciated.

Additionally, caring managers understand the importance of providing growth opportunities. They support their employees' professional development by offering career development plans, ensuring that employees have the chance to progress and acquire new skills. Progressive organizations prioritize employee growth, creating an environment where individuals feel motivated and empowered to reach their full potential.

Growth-oriented Manager: Promoting Growth in the Workplace

People don't want to feel stuck in their jobs; they want to grow. That's why having opportunities for growth is highly valued by employees. As a manager, what can you do to help your team members grow? If you don't support their growth, they may eventually seek other jobs where they can further develop their skills.

Progressive organizations provide career development plans to ensure that employees have opportunities to progress and acquire new skills.

How a Manager can Support Employees 

Managers often encounter situations where an employee makes a significant error or a project doesn't meet expectations. How should managers react in such circumstances? How can they effectively address underperforming team members?

Naturally, frustration and anger arise when employees make mistakes, particularly when it negatively impacts critical projects. Traditionally, the response has been to punish the employee, aiming to prevent future mistakes and send a message to the rest of the team.

However, some managers choose a different approach when dealing with underperforming team members: kindness and compassion. This doesn't imply a lack of concern for project success or outcomes. Instead, it presents an opportunity for coaching without passing judgment.

According to SHRM’s 2016 Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement survey, a lack of support from management is a leading cause of employee dissatisfaction and turnover. Strong support from managers correlates with lower turnover rates.

Kindness is a crucial leadership quality. Research from Harvard Business School reveals that leaders who project warmth are more effective than those who rely on fear as a management approach. Kind managers excel at building trust, which is crucial in leadership.

Studies conducted by Oxford University confirm that kindness contributes to employee happiness. Happy employees tend to be more productive. Acts of kindness, even small ones like a smile or nod, create a positive culture, fostering trust, attentiveness, and appreciation. 

How to Be a Kind Manager 

Don’t react instantly 

To project warmth and become a likable manager, it's important to avoid immediate reactions. Take a step back, control your emotions, and respond thoughtfully. Practicing meditation can aid in emotional regulation. Additionally, consider your employee's perspective, fostering empathy and compassionate responses. Learning to forgive strengthens relationships and positively impacts well-being.

Consider your employee’s perspective  

Managers who neglect employee psychology often make critical mistakes, such as micromanaging through fear, failing to listen actively, becoming overly familiar, not providing constructive feedback, and withholding shared leadership opportunities.

Learn how to forgive 

Learning how to forgive not only strengthens your relationships with your team but also creates a positive impact on your own well-being. Carrying a grudge, on the other hand, leads to bad health. So, take forgiveness as a tool to lower stress and creates a productive work environment. 

Common Mistakes Managers Make With Their Employees 

Managers who disregard the psychological well-being of their employees often fall into the following traps:

Micromanaging 

The number one mistake managers can make is leading through fear and a lack of vision, which often results in excessive micromanaging. This hampers team motivation and stifles creativity.

Not Listening 

It is crucial to listen to your employees and engage in two-way communication. Failing to be an active and respectful listener shows a lack of value for your team members.

Overly Friendly Manager

Some managers fail to maintain professional boundaries and try to become too friendly with their subordinates, compromising their own integrity.

Lack of Feedback 

Mistake lies in being defensive or avoiding questions when receiving feedback from the team. Inability to accept feedback is an undesirable trait in a manager.

Neglecting Shared Leadership

A traditional business approach is to share leadership with employees, empowering them to make decisions. Frontline workers often possess more subject matter expertise than managers or leaders, so not tapping into their intelligence is a mistake.

Influencing Employees' Mood as a Manager

The concept is simple: if a manager is happy, it is likely that their team will be happy too. Happy workers undoubtedly produce better results. Conversely, an unhappy and frustrated manager makes it difficult for the team to remain calm and content.

Organizations require both happy managers and employees, which is why they seek specific behaviors and competencies when hiring managers, as these factors contribute to workplace happiness.

Managers can influence their teams' moods by considering various factors such as social activities, sleep patterns, work-life balance, and stressful events that affect emotions. By helping employees regulate and control their emotions, managers can make a positive impact. Simple gestures like a nod, smile, or word of appreciation can significantly influence the team's mood.

Managing Difficult Employees

Your employees are your greatest asset, but managing them can sometimes be challenging, as there may be individuals who exhibit unhealthy behavior. It is important not to allow such behavior to create stressful situations for others.

Here are valuable tips for managing difficult people:

Final Thoughts

Positive psychology allows managers and leaders to focus on developing the strengths of their employees rather than fixating on weaknesses. As a manager, it is essential to enhance your understanding of workplace psychology, instilling a growth mindset in your team and driving remarkable results for your organization.

By comprehending the reasons behind people's actions, you can effectively communicate and empathize with them. Prioritize your team's psychological needs, making them feel valued and empowered, while leveraging technology and tools to address other talent management challenges.


Essentials of a Successful Employer Brand

As a business leader or HR professional, what is your plan to compete effectively in the war for talent? How will you convince great people to join your organization and stay? If you don’t have a strong employer brand, it will become increasingly difficult for you to meet your HR goals down the road. 

This blog post will simplify the concept of “employer branding”, why it is important, and how to build a strong employer brand to achieve your business goals. 

What is an Employer Brand? 

Before we dig deep into employer branding, let’s quickly define what is “employer brand”.

Employer brand refers to your company’s overall reputation. What do your existing or potential employees think about your company as a place to work? In other words, your employer brand is your employees’ perception of you as an employer. 

There are so many factors that collectively develop that perception; your hiring process, culture, employee benefits, etc. 

What is Employer Branding? 

Employer branding is the process of creating and managing your employer brand. Whatever your company does, intentionally or unintentionally, helps your employees create an overall perception of your company. 

Employer branding is the way you present your company to internal employees and job seekers. The better you are at employer branding, the more likely you are to find and hire talented people. 

If you want your business to attract top-tier talent within your industry, you or your HR leaders must understand the importance of employer branding. Why? Because skilled people don’t just jump at the first job they come across. Instead, they look for an employer with a personality that they can trust and recognize. 

Is your employer brand recognizable and trustworthy? Do you find it easy to find and hire talent with great ease and speed? If not, it’s high time for you to reimagine the way people think of your company. The objective here is to make your company more attractive for your existing and new employees. 

That’s where you need to focus on your day-to-day people management activities, company culture, and values. Most importantly, analyze the way you treat people. Employer branding is an opportunity for you to introduce your company as an incredible place to work. 

Why Your Employer Brand Matters 

Studies suggest that your employer brand can have a direct impact on your talent acquisition efforts. 83% of employers believe that employer brand plays a key role in their ability to hire talent. It’s not just about attracting talent but retaining it. 

Let’s take a look at some important stats to understand why your employer brand matters: 

These stats are certainly enough to understand how crucial it is to have a strong employer branding strategy. Employer brand matters if you want to hire and retain the right people. 

Building your reputation as a credible employer is absolutely essential when it comes to today’s competitive market for top talent. 

Your reputation as an employer will have a strong impact on whether or not qualified candidates decide to join your company. If your workplace doesn’t meet your ideal candidates’ expectations, they will be happy to join your competitors. Therefore, you can’t afford to have a bad reputation as it will hinder your efforts to scale your business and ensure future success. 

A whitepaper from Linkedin indicates that employer brand becomes important when your audience is young and global. 

But what are the constituents of an employer brand? What makes a strong employer brand? Let’s answer these questions. 

Defining Your Employer Branding Strategy 

Now that we understand the significance of a strong employer brand, here are the fundamentals of a good employer branding strategy: 

1. Define your Employer Value Proposition (EVP)

The employer value proposition or EVP defines how an organization wants to be perceived by its employees. It encompasses your core values and benefits that make up your employer brand. Defining your EVP is a fundamental step in defining your employer’s brand strategy. 

Your unique value proposition should make it clear to your current and future employees why they should choose and stay with you. Simply put, answer this question: why should people choose to work for your company? This statement should be realistic and attractive. 

It’s not about the compensation your workers get. Instead, it’s about defining your company’s purpose and positive impact on the world. It’s important because people don’t just work for monetary gains. They want to know whether or not their work is meaningful. 

Here are examples of EVPs from globally know employers: 

2. Know where you stand right now 

Have you ever thought about your current business processes and their impact on your people?  You might not be fully aware of what your employees and job seekers think about your company. The best thing you can do is conduct an employer brand audit and review all of your recruiting and marketing channels. 

The process may involve analyzing your social media presence, the application process, candidate experience, your messaging, and chatter about your brand. Address the following questions: 

3. Engage your current employees 

Your employees are your greatest asset. You can turn them into your brand ambassadors. 

When candidates want to learn more about your employer’s brand, they would like to hear it from your employees. So, leverage your people and share their testimonials on your website. 

Another great way to engage your employees is to encourage them to highlight company events such as giveaways on their social media profiles. For example, you can ask them to simply share pictures on Facebook or Instagram with your branded hashtags. It’s a fun way to share your company’s culture online. 

4. Develop a strong onboarding process 

The first thing your new hires go through is your onboarding process. Do you want to make a positive impression? If yes, think about your onboarding process and improve it. People who go through a bad onboarding process are less likely to stay with you. 

While the hiring process does have an impact on your employer’s brand, be sure to have a great onboarding process. Early engagement indicates that you’re determined to bring about employee success. 

5. Encourage learning opportunities 

A workplace must not be a place where everybody feels stagnant and dull. 

Do you know the leading reasons why people left their jobs? According to a study, the number one is boredom.  And it’s not hard to make your workplace learning and growth-friendly. 

Create learning opportunities for your employees to help them learn new skills. It’s also important to challenge your employees and help them avoid boredom. 

Offering coaching and mentoring services can also make things easier for your workers as they would have someone they can turn to if they have questions or concerns. 

Offer continuous employee development programs. Your employee will feel motivated when you invest in their professional growth. And that’s a good way to stand out. 

6. Focus on diversity and inclusion 

Diversity and inclusion are key factors that determine how your company is seen by employees, applicants, and other stakeholders. 

If everyone doesn’t get equal treatment and access to resources, or if a certain segment of people feels uncomfortable at your workplace, it will be difficult for you to build diverse teams. Companies that take diversity and inclusion initiatives build stronger workplace culture and are more likely to achieve their business goals. 

Your HR department and managers can play a key role in implementing a healthy D&I strategy. When you implement a well-thought-out D&I strategy, it eventually increases your talent reach. 

7. Measure your efforts 

Don’t forget to track the results your employer branding strategy is producing. Analyze what’s working and whatnot. Here are some key employer branding metrics you must be tracking: 

A good employer branding strategy will help you perform well in terms of these metrics. So, be sure to measure your performance and make necessary adjustments whenever needed. For example, if your hiring process is time-consuming, try to streamline it with HR tools. 

Implementing a smart talent management solution will automate certain HR processes and help you track your performance. 

Final thoughts 

Use your employer brand to reflect your popularity, reputation, viability, and visibility in the employment marketplace. Your employer brand might not get the attention it deserves, but it’s critical for your business success. 

Reduce Hiring Costs While Recruiting

The recruitment process could consume a major part of your overall operational costs. While the need to reduce hiring costs in good times is an ongoing objective, it’s a necessity in tough times. Recruiting, however, occurs in both good and bad times. 

The International Public Management Association for Human Resources revealed that about 30% of businesses spend between $1,000 and $3,000 per hire. If you’re spending a lot on hiring new employees, it’s high time to take effective measures so that you improve your bottom line. You can dramatically reduce recruiting costs by employing innovative recruiting tactics and tools

Hiring great people becomes difficult when you have a limited recruiting budget and an old-fashioned recruitment process in place. This blog post will identify some of the most practical and straightforward ways to reduce your hiring costs and hire the right people for your business. 

5 Smart Ways to Reduce Hiring Costs 

Before you implement any recruiting strategy, make sure to examine your overall hiring process. Find out how much recruitment is costing your company. Consider both direct and indirect costs during the process. HR administration, turnover, job board fees, advertising, and processing costs are some of the direct requirement costs. Indirect costs include the time of internal staff, productivity, and opportunity costs. 

No matter what strategy you’re using to attract new talent, make sure to consider these 5 ways to improve your hiring process: 

Automate Your Recruiting Process 

In most cases, in-house resources have to post a job description on more than 10 different platforms and scan through a massive stack of resumes. How much energy and time do you think your staff would be investing in performing these repetitive tasks that aren’t even part of their responsibilities? 

Most small business owners go through the frustration of spending more time and money than they should on HR-related activities. From job posting to payroll, and HR management, entrepreneurs can spend a significant chunk of their day on these time-consuming tasks. 

Automation is the only way to move forward because it can save a lot of your resources and keep your business ahead of the curve. For example, a robust applicant tracking system can remove the pain points in the entire hiring process from job posting and interviews to talent acquisition, which ultimately leads to reduced operational costs. 

A recruiting automation system can help perform the following tasks with great ease and speed:

  1. Applicant tracking 
  2. Candidate pre-screening 
  3. Access to pre-qualified talent
     
  4. Expand your reach into the talent market  
  5. Candidate nurturing 
  6. Manage everything using a single platform 

Avoid Costly Turnover 

While automation gives you a competitive advantage, avoiding turnover can reduce your hiring expenses. Every business with workers experiences employee turnover. When an employee left your company, you have to allocate time and money to find a replacement and train them. That’s why you have to avoid costly turnover in order to reduce your recruiting costs. 

Here are some cost-effective techniques to reduce high employee turnover:

  1. Hire the right people in the first place 
  2. Offer competitive pay and benefits
  3. Reward your employees when they deliver results 
  4. Give them a sense of purpose and direction 
  5. Allow flexible work schedules, if possible 

Pro Tip: Use a digital recruitment approach to recruit pre-qualified employees to avoid turnovers. 

Recruit Faster 

It’s never been more difficult for HR managers to find the right employees: competition for talent is fiercer than ever before. To make your recruiting more cost-efficient, you not only have to find the right people but also expedite the overall process. Again, you can’t recruit faster unless you employ modern tools to streamline the hiring process. 

As you scale from recruiting 5 people in a year to 5 people a week, efficient hiring processes can make a big difference. One of the ways to reduce your HR costs is to move faster throughout the process. To find bottlenecks in your process, analyze how long candidates spend in each step of the selection process. 

Develop Talent Pool 

Developing and maintaining a pipeline of qualified candidates will also help you reduce your cost-per-hire. It becomes easier for your team to fill in new positions quickly when you build a talent pool. On top of this, you don’t have to spend on advertisements. 

Some companies hire a temporary replacement which contributes to a high cost per hire. Reduced time-to-fill will help you eliminate the need for finding temporary replacements. Besides, you wouldn’t have to waste the time of your team on a mass of unqualified candidates. 

Here are some quick tips for building an effective talent pool: 

  1. Use an efficient sourcing tool 
  2. Take advantage of your current employees’ network to expand your pool 
  3. Build a strong social media presence to invite potential candidates 
  4. Encourage potential candidates to join your talent pool 

Deploy the Right ATS 

There are so many Applicant Tracking Systems that help companies streamline their recruiting process. However, you need to carefully scrutinize your needs before adding an HR system to your toolkits.  

When you implement an ATS that is a good fit for your company, you will be able to cut several HR costs while enhancing your capabilities to connect with ideal candidates. Platforms like Wiggli come with a comprehensive recruiting tool that you can use to easily weed out under-qualified applicants, build an applicant database, communicate, schedule interviews, and automate various aspects of the hiring process. 

Don’t let inefficient recruiting methods have a negative impact on your bottom line. Reach the right candidates quickly and cost-efficiently. 

Final Thoughts on How to Reduce Hiring Costs

Your recruiting cost depends largely on the time your HR team spends on recruiting tasks. If your staff is using spreadsheets and email to track the hiring process, your recruiting costs are likely to be much higher. So, adopt smart recruiting tools to resolve most of your HR-related issues once and for all. 

Building a Winning Company Culture

Progressive companies are always in search of ideas that help them create a positive work culture. Because a positive and winning company culture is the key to attracting and retaining talent, which is crucial for business growth.

And, no, it does not have to depend solely on lavish workspaces, backed by big budgets. Even small to medium businesses can create a winning culture by focusing on employee and candidate experience. 

When you keep employees at the focal point of everything you do, you make space for thriving company cultures – ones that employees cherish and customers appreciate. But, like with anything rewarding, building a cohesive and winning culture requires time and effort. 

Let's help you achieve this goal with tips and real-life examples that inspire and catapult you into business success.

What is Company Culture?

It's the practices, the processes, and the philosophies that guide the company. Together, these aspects shape the personality of the company.

How To Create A Winning Company Culture?

Talking about creating a winning, engaging work culture is all good. But real results are driven by real work.

So, how to get started? Let's dive straight into the whats, the hows, and the wows (read: examples):

1. Live By Your Core Values 

When you have a business, you must find out what it stands for and then infuse it into everything you do.

Determine what type of culture you want and then decide on the core values that fit that culture. Next, ensure you hire people who can exercise those core values – the ones who are in sync with them and can not work without them.

Zappos' core values are geared towards nurturing a positive culture. 

To ensure that they "hire for culture", the company conducts a culture fit interview. Once selected, the employees even undergo a four-week training where they are acquainted with the core values. At the end of the training, those who are unhappy are given "The Offer" – a proposal to take a $2,000 bonus and quit the organisation.

But why? To work with those who are genuinely committed to the company's core values and are ready to live by them. 

2. Empower Through Communication

Communication is powerful. You can drive people with words and keep them inspired to achieve more, happily. Which is why, it's crucial to ensure that your organisation thrives on transparent and honest relationships with communication.

Create a place where ideas are welcomed, and people don't hesitate to represent their viewpoints. 

Twitter is one company that encourages open, honest conversations, just like its platform. From enabling people to represent their diverse opinions out loud to initiate crazy conversations, Twitter's company culture gives enough freedom to help people write their success stories without any communication barriers. 

3. Work-Fun Balance

It might seem a little trite, but work without fun is not destined for long-term success. Keeping your employees engaged in fun activities fosters productivity and employee contentment, leading to energetic work culture.  

Make sure work stress doesn't lead to burnout. Enrich your company with new, fun on-site activities and programs that boost employee engagement.

With its happy crew driven by the zeal to make work fun, Zoom indeed makes it into the list of fun and happy workplaces. 

Wellness spaces, game rooms, events, outings, and more – the video communications company offers it all to ensure that nobody runs out of fun even when the work mode is on. 

4. Embrace Cultural Diversity

A winning company culture rests on diverse and inclusive workforces. Only when you value diverse people and embrace their distinct qualities and opinions you can create a healthy work culture

Recognize the importance of differences, eliminate discrimination, and think of people as a team. Begin by removing unconscious bias and take small steps towards building a sense of unity. That's how companies often achieve breakthroughs – by bringing all together. 

Nike is an excellent example of diverse company culture. The brand believes in bringing people together with "sport" as the binding force. By taking the goal of embracing diversity and inclusion to a deeper level, the company focuses on overcoming differences. This is how it drives creativity and innovation. And this is how it has attained a competitive advantage that's worth emulating.

5. OFFER ABOVE-AVERAGE PERKS

Go beyond the ordinary when deciding on the perks and benefits to offer your people. Because a winning company culture requires above-average perks to win the right talent and retain it. 

There's always some scope to level up the perks you offer to your employees without stretching your budget. If you can't afford to provide full-service concierge benefits, consider flexible work hours, family leaves, free desktop music, fresh fruits, kombucha on tap, and the like.

The luring benefits and perks listed above surely act as a source of inspiration, right? But who's behind that inspiration?  It's the software giant, Adobe. 

The company ensures that virtually no part of its employees' lives is devoid of excellent perks. From affordable health insurance options that give them one less thing to worry about to educational reimbursement that helps them hone their skills – Adobe offers all this and much more to establish a positive, growth-oriented company culture. And so can you.

6. Maintain and Evolve the Culture

A winning company culture requires continuous efforts. It's not something you do once and forget about. You need to be consistent while leaving enough room for flexibility and growth. As long as the essence of your company's culture remains intact, you can tweak your policies to maintain and evolve it.

Be on a constant lookout for ways to improve your company culture. Evaluate the people, industry trends, and social changes to adapt your culture accordingly. It requires systematic analysis and strategic decision-making to reinvent the culture as an organisation grows and expands.

Google is the gold standard of incredible company culture. With a mission as fantastic as "organizing the world's information and making it universally accessible and useful", Google knows how to keep employees at the center of everything the company does.

As the company continues to grow by leaps and bounds, it doesn't stray from delivering what its employees seek. With years of refinement into practice, the company regularly invests money, time, and effort into maintaining and evolving its culture. And the results are for all of us to see.

Ready To Create Positive Culture Ambassadors For Your Company? 

Learn from the tips mentioned above and build a company culture that differentiates your organisation from the rest. When you create a positive work culture, you make a happy, satisfied community of employees who become your culture brand ambassadors. And that's a win-win.

But creating such a culture can get a little intimidating, especially when you don't know where to start. If that's the case, we've got your back. 

At Wiggli, we are always there to assist you with valuable insights and information that take you one step closer to winning the company culture. 

Also, we'd love to hear your thoughts. Leave your comments below on the companies that motivate you to do more for your employees and keep the conversation going.

Leveraging Employer Branding for Success

It's the buzzword on the corporate world's lips: employer branding. Everyone is talking about it. But only a few are acing it. What is an employer brand, and how can you capitalize on it to get a winning edge in the war for talent?

Here's a simple definition to pique your interest.

What is an Employer Brand?

Employer brand is the reputation an organisation builds to be the employer of choice. And, it's your roadmap to recruiting and retaining talent. 

It seems easy, right? You promote yourself as a company that everybody wants to work with, and it's done. Well, not really.

A lot goes into building an employer brand. We will get to that later. First, let's dive deeper and understand why the HR world can't underestimate employer branding.

Employer Branding – What Does it do to a Company?

Your brand is more than just superb customer service, product quality, offers, launches, media interactions, or the stunning website you have. You can't overlook the impact you make on your employees – existing and potential. 

When 75% of job seekers consider an employer's brand even before applying for a job, it's no fluff.

If done right, employer branding becomes a crucial part of your employee experience and, ultimately, business productivity. 

This is how employer branding aligns with your company's goals and delivers long-term benefits:

1) It Decreases the Cost Per Hire

50% That's how much you can reduce your cost per hire with a strong employer brand.

When you build your employer brand, you make a long-term investment - no spending money on advertising and marketing campaigns specifically for creating brand awareness to attract future employees. By boosting your social media presence with a strong employer brand, you share your values and culture with the world at large.  

2) It Gives You Access to the Top Talent

Traditionally, companies had to work hard to attract the best talent. But with a strong employer brand, you can turn the tables. When your positive work culture becomes visible online, you can rest assured that the ones you need are keeping an eye on your brand – giving you access to more candidates who are keen on joining your company.

3) Brand Matters More than Money

Every employee seeks some monetary love in their salary account. But, to some, a good brand matters more than money. More and more candidates are accepting lower pay in companies that have a positive reputation. This, ultimately, translates into increased savings. So, create a feel-good company, and you are sure to control your company's HR spending.

4) It Influences Your Corporate Brand

When you invest in employer branding, it creates a ripple effect in improving your reputation and corporate brand, bringing more customers and profits in the long run. 

Strong Employer Brand = Engaged + Enthusiastic Employees

Employer Branding - Best Practices

Ready to turn your employer brand around and improve your reputation, profits, and employee engagement? 

Most HR leaders understand the importance of employer branding. The sad part is: they don't always know what to do about it. 

That's why, when companies reach out to us at Wiggli for their employer branding goals, we guide them from scratch. Because let's be honest here: the idea of investing in promoting your company as a perfect employer can be a bit vague. Apart from focusing on corporate social responsibility (CSR) to improve your brand's perception, there's a lot that needs to be done to create a better social image than your competitors.

To help you get started, here are five remarkable ways to build a positive and influential employer brand, along with some inspo-worthy examples:

1. Create Insightful Video Content

Nothing beats videos in portraying a brand's authenticity. After all, unveiling what goes inside your company before someone even pays a visit says a lot about the level of transparency you are committed to. And that's essential for today's no-artifice-please talent pool. 

Create videos that go beyond cookie-cutter corporate videos, and you'll have the key to grabbing the attention of the top talent out there. 

A perfect example of an employer branding video is the "Google Interns' first-week" video launched in 2013. The video was an excellent portrayal of how it feels to be on Google's Mountain View campus for the first time. And it continues to strike a note with potential applicants even today.

2. Deliver More Through Your Careers Pages

Various touchpoints influence a candidate's decision to apply for a job. While your website's "careers" page is one of them, it's vital to understand that candidates seek more than those stale careers pages when getting to know a business. 

Explain your company's structure and provide clear information about your objectives and values through these pages that form a significant part of the candidates' journey.

Cisco is the best example of careers page employer branding done right. By highlighting their employees' stories and clearly explaining the available benefits and perks along with answering the FAQs, they provide all the career essentials than merely listing the current job opportunities. 

3. Improve Your Employees' Work-Life Balance

By helping its employees leverage extensive flexibility to work from wherever they want, the company has set a benchmark for attracting and retaining talent based on flexibility, autonomy, and work-life balance.

4. Use Feedback To Win Over Top Talent

When aiming to create a fantastic company that looks good from the outside, focus within the organisation too. Pay attention to employee feedback – both offline and online. And always respond without turning on your defensive mode. 

Begin by thanking the reviewer for their feedback and give personalized responses. Above all, be courteous while replying to negative reviews. Plus, think creatively about how best can you maximize your positive reputation. 

5. Utilise Employee-Generated Social Media Content 

It's a no-brainer that social media makes for a great job search platform.

A look at the stats reveals that over 79% of applicants use social media to search for jobs. 

And that's huge.

Social media lets your candidates interact directly with your brand – giving them a window into your organisation. And nothing works better in attracting talent than leveraging existing employees as brand advocates.

Take Microsoft, for example.

In the rapidly growing tech industry, it becomes difficult to win the race for talent – no matter whether you're an industry giant. This was a challenge that Microsoft conquered brilliantly by repositioning its legacy brand with "Microsoft Life".

Next Steps for Succesful Employer Branding

Building a strong employer brand is like foraying into a wild path. With so much to do, you might get lost. Begin right by focusing on what matters the most, and align your business goals with your employee success. 

Involve your CEO along with the HR and marketing teams to shape the right narrative. Because like almost everything else in the world of business, employer branding is a team effort.

And we're here to help you get ahead of the game. At Wiggli, we bring all the insights needed for the HR world to work smarter and better. 

Find out how we can assist you with your employer branding goals and be all set to tap the power of the right talent through a top-tier employer brand.

Stress Management: Limit the Damage

The risk of physical illness or distress is a product of a stressful working environment and lack of stress management. When people work in extremely stressful situations, they experience irreparable health damage. While we can refer to workplace rules and regulations that provide guidelines for risk assessment of physical hazards, it’s hard to find a document that addresses the risks of occupational stress or psychosocial hazards. 

April is Stress Awareness Month, which puts special emphasis on public awareness of both the cures and causes of the modern stress epidemic. As a business owner, manager, or leader, how do you help your people cope with stress? 

Job-related stress is a global phenomenon. According to Gallup Poll, 80% of workers experience some type of stress on the job. And more than half wanted to learn how to deal with it. We understand some work stress is normal and natural. However, chronic and extreme pressures seriously impact the health of workers, making it difficult for them to stay fully productive. 

If we look at studies, we will find that chronic work stress is as bad for your health as smoking or inactivity. When you or your employees experience prolonged job stress, it led to health complications like high blood pressure, chronic pain, and a weak immune system. 

A survey exploring the employee experience with work stress found that three-quarters of workers experience high levels of stress. 

In this post, we will dig deep into what is workplace stress management, how companies can manage stress, what causes work stress, what measures companies can take to reduce stress, and the role of managers in handling stress and the risks associated with it.  

stress

What is work stress? 

Here is how HSE defines work-related stress: 

'The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them'.

We often feel stressed when we can’t cope with an issue. Employees, similarly, feel stressed when they are unable to handle pressures. For example, when you hire the wrong people that don’t have the required skills to get the job done, they will eventually end up being stressed and unable to perform. Sometimes people feel stressed when they are unable to meet deadlines. 

Another important factor to consider here is the varying ability of human beings to handle stress. One thing stressful for one person might not affect another. Factors like age, skills, experience, and capabilities may determine how an employee copes with a situation. 

Factors that can contribute to work-related stress 

So, what makes people feel stressed at work? Here are some common elements that contribute to work stress: 

We can add more to this list. But these are the leading factors that contribute to work-related stress. If you’re assigning work more than what your employees can handle, it will create stress. If you fail to develop an inclusive work environment, certain people in your team will feel ignored. Likewise, if your employees feel insecure in terms of their jobs, they will end up feeling stressed. 

These are the factors you should be focusing on and comparing your performance against other organizations. Determine whether or not you’re doing enough to address these issues. A systematic risk assessment process will make things easier for you. Also, it’s something more than a survey. Once issues have been identified, you must take concrete actions to reduce the impact. 

stress management

Should every company have a "Stress Management Policy"?

When we say “stress policy”, it covers many important aspects of your business. Stress management is just one of them. Work-related stress, harassment, bullying, or mobbing are now considered major occupational challenges. 

One out of three workers in Europe reports that their lives are affected by work-related stress. Like other mental health problems, stress is often misunderstood. It becomes more manageable when you start treating it as an organizational issue and not just an individual fault. 

So, should you have a “stress policy” that effectively deals with invisible workplace hazards like stress? Here are some stats that will answer this question: 

Considering these alarming stats, it’s crystal clear that you need to have a sound stress policy to address these workplace issues. The policy usually involves identifying stressors and risk assessment. 

What is stress management?

We talk a lot about stress in our daily lives. But we hardly understand what it is and how to manage it. Stress is described as a reaction to a situation. We often feel stressed when the demands of a situation are greater than our ability and resources. For example, one of your employees who isn’t confident in their skills will feel stressed when asked to give a tough presentation. 

Nonetheless, stress isn’t all about a lack of skills or resources. Our behavior toward certain social issues can also make people feel stressed. For instance, discrimination against minorities can make them feel undervalued and unnecessary. 

But the question is how to manage stress or how to make your employees feel comfortable with what they need to do. Chronic stress makes employees believe that there is nothing much they can do to improve their situation. That’s where we need to promote how stress can be managed, both at the individual and organizational levels. 

Stress management is a practice of effectively managing stress in many different ways. It may include strategies that address stress psychologically and physically to help people develop coping skills and resilience.  

stress management

Stress management methods

As a manager or business owner, it’s important for you to help your people handle stress. While workers often dismiss suggestions from the HR department, it’s important to understand that HR professionals can play a positive role in this regard and create a verifiable impact on the health of employees and the company. You can work directly with your staff and handle their concerns to ensure a productive and healthy workplace.

Here are some proven strategies to prepare your people to handle stress in positive ways: 

Talk to your employees 

Regularly check in with your staff to see how they’re doing. The first thing you should do to help your employees manage stress is to understand what bothers them. If you’re not sure what causes the problem, you can’t come up with a solution. So, take some time and talk to your people about everything from their daily routine to job satisfaction. 

It would be a good idea to have a company-wide meeting where you allow your people to express themselves without hesitation. Let them talk about their grievances. Of course, people are often reluctant to express such feelings, but you should try. 

An anonymous survey is also a good idea to learn what your employees really think about their job and the company. 

Encourage Meditation and Mindfulness 

With so much uncertainty and negativity coming from the news, your employees can easily get stressed. One way to manage stress is mindfulness and meditation. Taking a few minutes each day and performing these exercises can have a positive impact on your workplace. 

If you’re unable to hire a professional business coach to train employees on mindfulness, encourage them to use apps and the internet to find as much information as they could. Mindfulness practices bring clarity to their minds and help them focus on the task at hand. 

Create Opportunities for Your Employees to Spend Time Outside 

Going outside is good for you and your employees’ health. It can do wonders for mental health. Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic has made it difficult for us to have such activities. But things will get back to normal soon.

Working continuously without breaks is not good for your people. So, allow them to have a quick company walk and get some fresh air. If your team is too busy to go out for a moment, take your own nature walk and bring your staff with you. 

Develop a Fitness Plan 

As gyms and fitness studios begin to reopen, you should consider providing incentives to those willing to join a gym or yoga studio. Needless to mention that exercise is greatly beneficial to your body and mind. No matter your position in an organization, you must have a fitness plan for yourself as well as for your people. 

More Tips for Stress Management 

If your employees think of your workplace as a threat, then you can’t build good relationships with them. 

Final Thoughts 

The subject of workplace stress becomes even more important at times when companies are struggling to deal with uncertainties associated with Covid-19. The current global health crisis has only added to work stress. 

You have a chance right now to reduce work-related stress and manage the risks associated with it. Of course, burnout is preventable, and you should do everything in your capacity to do so. All you need is a well-thought-out employee well-being strategy. Introduce resilience training and mindfulness classes. Use technology wherever you can to automate your business processes and minimize risk. 

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