The global landscape is constantly evolving, and what is required of leaders adapts accordingly. In our rapidly developing and intricate world, successful leaders must possess a unique blend of qualities and talents to skillfully navigate challenges, inspire their teams, and foster innovation. Looking ahead to 2024, it becomes clear that the dynamics of leadership will undergo further changes. This underscores the importance for leaders to be flexible, open to change, and willing to try new strategies for success. Having a comprehensive understanding of the core leadership traits for 2024 is essential for organizations aiming not just to survive.

Key takeaways

• leadership traits are the Personal abilities, unique qualities, and technical expertise all contribute to successful leadership within an organization.
• Taking responsibility, flexibility, assurance, creativity, and understanding others are traits of strong leaders, as are optimism and bringing a team together.
• Focus on continual learning and career growth, embrace a leadership approach, take on more responsibility, find a mentor, and focus on improving communication and relationship-building skills to further develop your leadership attributes.

A few things remain intact
From time immemorial, leaders have been rewarded with success and respect if they exhibit ethical behaviours consistently. Our society runs based on a few broadly agreed norms and most people abide by those. Hence, it continues to run without major breakdowns and disruptions. Accordingly, we as adults set our expectations from others while we live in a society. At work, leaders are expected to discharge their duties in consonance with these norms.

We expect our workplaces to be fair in their decisions of delegating work; fair in the processes and benchmarks used for measuring our contribution. Also, we expect our rewards and recognition to be in line with our peers internally as well as externally. We expect our leaders to allow us a reasonable amount of freedom to operate and provide us with an environment where everyone is respected for the abilities they bring, the work they do and the impact they deliver. Moreover, we expect our leaders to create an environment where we relate with one another, learn and grow to stay relevant in the future. This is a long list of expectations, but these are more or less universal and the leaders have to stand up to these every day of their lives at work.

In short, we seek high standards of work ethics from our leaders. This gives us the perception of a likeable workplace where one can feel safe and nourished.

Some brass tacks are different now
We are living in an environment that is constantly transforming socio-economically. As talent mobility has been on the rise and the prospect of remote work has been realised in many organisations, our employee workforce is a lot more diverse than it was ever before. Hence, the expectations of our employees are quite varied and hence, it’s very challenging for the leaders to match the range of expectations.

Paying salaries on time, keeping the wages competitive, providing a safe environment for them to work, having realistic and clear expectations from employees, following fair practices in its business processes, permeating a culture of dignity and offering opportunities to take on new or larger roles have become hygiene needs. If an organisation does not provide them, they cannot retain their employees and will not succeed.

To be among the leaders in the market, an organisation and its leaders need to go beyond the realms of the basic needs of their employees. They have to focus on the quality of life for their employees.

Some ideas for delivering a high quality of life for their employees:
Firstly, the quality of supervision matters in determining the quality of life of the employees. Every manager has his or her unique way of leading, however, an organisation has to define some broad contours of leadership every leader in the firm has to exhibit. These contours have to be in line with the context of the organisation and its core beliefs. For example, organisation A might want to grow its top line while B might want to grow its bottom line; A might value camaraderie while B might value competitiveness. Firms must decide the broad contours and align all their managers with these so that they exhibit the same on the ground.

Secondly, it is the consistency of the focus areas which determines the quality of life. Our external environment has surely been dynamic and volatile; hence, we need to be agile and adjust to the developments around us. IBM Lotus Notes was a great software, Nokia used to make great phones and Lehman Brothers was a respected company, but all of them perished because they were not agile enough. However, in the name of agility, we cannot be wavering and excitedly changing the focus often. This creates confusion in the minds of the stakeholders and dilutes their commitment to the goals and KPIs (key performance indicators). The organisation loses momentum in the process and bears the risk of falling by the wayside.

Thirdly, the quality of connections and belonging that leaders create in the organisation permeates a sense of oneness across the rank and file. Employees start seeing the purpose, relate with it and start owning up to the mission a lot more strongly. Leaders have to consciously nurture the growth of the members of their team, thus firmly establishing the perception that the organisation thinks for the long-term and cares for the future of the employee’s career.

Read Also:
• Having a leader as a boss
• The importance of being a human leader
• Leadership lessons we learn from our father
• How mothers teach us very important leadership lessons
• Leadership upskilling is key to expand horizons

What Good Leadership Looks Like

Based upon our decades of research and experience working with leaders at organizations around the world, we’ve found that the best leaders consistently possess certain fundamental qualities and skills. Here are 10 essential leadership traits.

Integrity

Honesty, ethics and consistency form the foundation of exemplary guidance. Leaders with unwavering uprightness build trust and credibility, fostering a positive communal culture. Transparent interaction, equitable decision-making and a commitment to moral principles characterize their actions. In uncertain times, uprightness becomes a guiding light, reinforcing stability and loyalty within groups. It is the bedrock of enduring relationships and establishes leaders as principled role models. Upholding uprightness isn’t just a virtue; it’s a strategic advantage that resonates throughout a community, shaping its identity and ensuring continued success. In essence, uprightness isn’t merely a trait; it’s the essence of authentic, impactful leadership.

Adaptability

Facing continual shifts, today’s leaders need versatility. It takes resilience and receptiveness to alter scenarios. Visionaries thrive amid unpredictability, smoothly adjusting approaches to confront emerging tasks. This quality isn’t solely concerned with the endurance of change but embracing it as a chance for growth. It necessitates a mindset receptive to new ideas, an eagerness to learn, and the competence to lead groups through transitions. Within a dynamic environment, versatility is the linchpin ensuring managers maintain progress, driving fortitude, and enabling organizations to handle intricacies with nimbleness and certainty.

Delegation

Effective leaders recognize the importance of assigning tasks to others, an essential element of leadership Traits. Distributing duties empowers groups, fostering a collaborative spirit and using diverse talents. Leaders, by entrusting obligations, alleviate not only their workload but also cultivate a feeling of responsibility among team individuals. This, in turn, improves overall productivity and efficiency. Welcoming assigning tasks demonstrates a leader’s faith in their team, a crucial factor in developing a harmonious and high-performing organizational culture that thrives on shared capabilities.

Confidence

Belief in one’s abilities is fundamental to effective guidance. A leader with faith inspires reliance and drives groups to attain objectives. This sureness in determination instills a sense of steadiness, even in difficult circumstances. Assurance is contagious, making an optimistic environment that urges inventiveness and risk-taking. Those who exhibit belief navigate uncertainties with composure, reassuring their teams. 

Creativity

Creativity, an essential quality among leadership traits, sparks innovation and propels organizational success. Those who cultivate a culture of creativity motivate teams to think beyond traditional boundaries, fostering novel solutions. By encouraging diverse viewpoints and risk-taking, imaginative leaders inject vitality into their teams. In today’s dynamic landscape, where challenges require inventive approaches, a leader’s capacity to harness and nurture creativity becomes integral to navigating complex situations and ensuring continued relevance in the constantly evolving business environment.

Focus

Guides effective choices and achievement of aims. Those guiding vision handle intricacies with lucidity, ensuring strategic harmony. By prioritizing duties and reducing diversions, they elevate productivity and lead groups towards triumph. In the dynamic scenery of leadership qualities, concentration surfaces as a key separator. Similarly to how care in replies is reliant on concentration, leaders embodying this trait excel in

Stability

In the realm of stability e ss stands as a cornerstone, providing the base for effective conclusion-making and sustainable progress. Leaders who emanate a sense of steadiness instill trust within their groups, creating a resilient. environment that can withstand uncertainties.

Risk-taking

Risk-taking emerges as a dynamic force, intertwined with leadership traits. Successful leaders understand the delicate balance of calculated risks, leveraging opportunities for innovation and growth. Encouraging a culture that embraces measured risk-taking fosters a spirit of experimentation and adaptability within the team.

Team-building

Guiding others towards a shared vision with subtle yet impactful leadership is what influence revolves around. Leaders who inspire possess charisma, communication abilities, and an authentic connection with their teams. Through persuasion that engages effectively and a compelling story, they shape the culture of an organization and propel the collective work towards objectives held in common.

Influence

A successful leader navigates maintaining balance with risk-taking responsibly, skillfully facilitates teamwork to create harmony as a unit, and leads in a way that steers the collective towards aspirations shared. When brought together harmoniously, these leadership qualities form the foundation of leadership traits that are effective and enduring within today’s landscape that presents both change and challenges.

Develop The Characteristics of a Good Leader In Yourself & Others

The best leaders don’t tell you what to do, they show you what to do 

The essence of great leadership lies not in commands alone but in guidance by personal conduct. The most impactful leaders do more than give orders; they themselves model the desired behaviors and work ethic. Through what they do, they establish a benchmark that motivates others to follow suit. This hands-on style fosters a culture of shared purpose and mutual understanding. Leading by one’s actions breeds trust, respect, and a feeling of unity within the team. Ultimately, the best leaders empower by demonstrating the way, nurturing an environment where

The true test of a leader is not how they handle success, but how they handle failure

A leader’s character is truly measured not when things are going well but when facing hardship. Dealing with success can demonstrate skill, yet it is within the furnace of defeat where real leadership surfaces. A durable leader does not fall apart in the face of obstacles; instead, they glean teachings, adjust approaches, and encourage their group to push on. Having the capability to navigate difficulties with elegance, gain from miscalculations, and energize others when hopes are dashed

Leadership in the current times demands a holistic understanding of the intricacies that shape effective leadership. From defining what leadership entails to exploring the traits that distinguish exceptional leaders, this guide serves as a roadmap for individuals aspiring to lead with impact. By embracing continuous learning, fostering positive workplace cultures, and embodying the traits of successful leaders, individuals can navigate the challenges of the contemporary landscape and inspire others to achieve collective success.

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Many Davids are there in every large enterprise.

We have to recognise the Davids and leverage their power. They are agile, innovative and raring to go. Millennials may not have the depth of experience and could sometimes come up with a utopian idea. Yet there could be just one or two that could change the future course.

Google introduced the “20% time” rule in the early 2000s. Their idea payid pokies no deposit bonus was to tap into the creative prowess of their employees. They encouraged them to work on anything interesting to them and they believe that Google would be benefited. As a result of this innovative practice, Google could not only expand the portfolio of its services but some significant innovations happened. GMail was one such and it revolutionised the way people communicated then; one of the most rapid adaptations of a software tool was that of GMail.

Google wasn’t as big as it is today; neither was it too small. They were able to run this programme effectively then. Maybe, they have become too big now and hence, might have not been able to implement it anymore. Hence, we haven’t heard about the success of this idea in recent times. However, the idea remains relevant and inspirational today. There are Davids in the organisation; they go unnoticed in the humdrum business processes that thrive in the firm. Such initiatives not only engage them meaningfully but also bring out their best.

Engagement methods matter.

A.G. Lafley worked in P&G for many years and is widely acclaimed for the innovation culture he built there. He pushed the employees across roles and levels in the organisation to engage with the customers closely. Some of their employees lived at their customers’ homes to learn about the lifestyle of their customers, observe their behaviours, understand their needs better and spot white spaces for P&G to fill.

The methods used by Lafley in various parts of the world worked well in the 90s and 2000s. Will they work across all regions and cultures? Will they work in the current times? Do these methods work in all industry segments? Should an organisation replicate these practices now? The successes of the past are certainly an inspiration, but business leaders have to independently assess their context and accordingly decide the methods that will work well to tap into the energies of their young employees.

Some organisations have found wonderful results in appointing a shadow board for their younger employees. This board works closely with the seniors in the firm and works on critical challenges that their organisation faces. The results have been encouraging.

CEO’s hands-on involvement is essential.

Millennials like speed and do not take hierarchy very seriously. Large organisations, due to their size, behave like Goliaths. They rely on proven methods and do not risk rocking the boat. As a result, they fail to demonstrate speed and personal connection between the layers of managers and the millennials. Senior managers belong to a different generation and experience the gaps in their homes and close circles. However, they often do not relate to this reality when they come to work. This has to change!

CEO has to lead the efforts of walking the talk; she or he has to not only align the management team and introduce meaningful engagement programmes but also, devote time to engage with the ideas, suggestions and project reports brought forth by the special task forces composed of young employees.

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What are the implications?

Employees get the flexibility to work from their homes or whichever place they are comfortable with and come into offices occasionally or whenever their job role demands. As a result, they save time and money which would have been spent commuting and working out of the office. Many of them find it less distracting to work from their homes and feel proud of having reduced their carbon footprint on our mother earth. Employers also save some costs in office infrastructure and get higher productivity in many cases.

While there are positive implications in many cases, organisations are worried about the decline in the social capital they had built by bringing people together under one roof. Employees could actively participate in building the company culture and following the norms around the culture. In the remote-working situation, employees tend to lose touch with the company norms and develop their styles that suit their tastes. They tend to dissociate from their colleagues and hence, in the process weaken the linkage with the team, its objectives and purpose. The propensity of walking the extra mile gradually declines. Leaders are worried about it and see the impact on the horizon in terms of a drop in employee engagement scores, customer satisfaction levels and hence, sustainability in the long term.

What can be done?

Our world has changed in many ways after the pandemic. However, human beings have not changed their preferences and instincts yet.

We continue to look for belongingness to a range of social systems; we stay hungry for challenging work; we seek trust from others; we need successes and achievements from time to time; our motivation is linked with the recognition and rewards we receive from people who matter. Organisations had their ways of fulfilling all these aspects when work happened in the physical workplaces.

Given the change in the world of work, we have to re-examine the relevance of the old methods such as celebrating successes, conducting events, holding stand-up meetings to showcase successes and plan the activities for the time ahead, giving away certificates and awards to the achievers, holding classroom training programmes, using scoreboards and so on.

Leaders hold the key

In our new way of work, colleagues are mostly connecting over digital channels rather than the traditional practice of in-person connections. Digital platforms aren’t yet able to match the effectiveness of in-person communication. Leaders have to take cognizance of this limitation and plan methods that can bridge the gaps.

Firstly, we have to review the communication methods, style and frequency if they are serving the purpose. In most organisations, there is a need for change such as using new methods such as the use of videos, short messages, use of platforms that promote expression and collaboration, increasing the frequency and encouraging employees at multiple levels in the organisation to actively post updates, reactions, suggestions and questions.

Secondly, we have to realise that the current methods of virtual meetings cannot generate the level of camaraderie, energy and friendship employees experienced in the water-cooler conversations, chats over lunch, sipping tea or stepping out for snacks together. So, the least that leaders can do is to lead by example in driving a change in the newfound hybrid workplace. They need to regularly catch up with their direct reports or one level below one-to-one or in very small groups of three or four people. The catch-up needs to focus on building personal networks and connections.

Last but not the least, work has to be structured well with clear goals and metrics. Feedback on regular basis must be offered to people so that they do not meander, waste efforts and feel frustrated later due to the unavoidable rework or a sense of underachievement. This is easier said than done.

Leaders have a task now and they must challenge themselves to meet the expectations. They have to ensure value delivery for all stakeholders in the business.

The post #BuildingTomorrow: Employee Engagement for the Future Workforce appeared first on CIEL HR.

The big picture and the experience right now

We know that many people are increasingly focused on living in the present; at the same time, they care about the purpose of the organisation they associate with and the meaning of the work they do. The question is how important is seeing the big picture and the long term vis-à-vis the focus on short-term gains and the experience in the here and now. Gen-Z and Gen-Y like the older generation care about both. Should the leaders invest their energies in building a team and building an organisation equally on short term aspects as well as long-term ones? This debate is not settled yet. However, it is clear that people care about both the stories and we have to find a balance between the two.

Many organisations find it hard to craft and consistently deliver the message around the organisation’s mission, vision and values. Building the organisation’s processes in alignment with the vision and values is a challenge in itself. And the leaders must live the values consistently. The organisation has to see this actively and clearly so that everyone feels proud of being on a ship that is architected well and strong enough to withstand the vagaries of the environment from time to time and the storms along the way. This is at the core of employee engagement.

Crafting the engagement practices for tomorrow’s organisation is more complex than ever before because of the rapid transformation taking place in the socio-economic fabric of our society. The preferences, aspirations and approach of employees in different social cohorts are widely varying. Hence, our practices have to appeal to all cohorts – it’s a tall order.

The hygiene factors must be in order

All of us expect the right salaries, benefits, recognition, the culture of treating people with fairness and respect, learning opportunities, adequate freedom and growth prospects at work. It is hard to define how much is enough; there is no limit to increasing these factors. The leaders have to benchmark their practices against the industry standards and make sure that the right levels of hygiene factors are provided. We know that the absence of hygiene factors brings down the engagement level and reduces productivity while increasing these factors beyond a limit does not increase the engagement quotient. One has to find the optimum zone and operate within those.

Engagement is not about the benefits and schemes

Many organisations and HR folks think of employee engagement practices as fun at work and the beyond-work programmes such as sports and games, music and dance clubs, talent hunt activities, cultural shows, the celebration of various festivities, annual day and the like. Some companies focus on employee benefits such as cafeteria, food, transport, posh office space, health and fitness, flexible leaves and work hours, gifts on special occasions and the like. In reality, these become a part of life and the default norm in the company. These do not influence their employees to walk the extra mile to bring laurels to the organisation.

We have to focus on developing and aligning their behaviours at work to the set of desired patterns and benchmarks. These help us establish the right environment in our organisation. Our aspirations get co-owned; we involve our rank and file in developing the right strategic plans for the company and understanding the priorities better. We establish a culture of collaboration and ownership within the company. The tools, systems and processes we define in the company get absorbed better by the employees and they use them well. That’s the real test of engagement!

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Delivering employee experience is a culmination of various things that happen in the lives of employees. Organisations can make an attempt to create a positive experience. As long as they align their efforts harmoniously and consistently, the direction gives a definite shape to the experience. This shape tends to attract a certain kind of behaviours and results; thus, determines the outcomes delivered by the organisation.

Given the uncertain times we live in, especially in the backdrop of COVID19, nobody knows if we will ever get back to the business practices followed in the pre-COVID days. Many organisations have already announced virtual working and remote working as their new norm. While this could be short-lived, it is certain that the future is going to be a hybrid version of physical workspace and virtual workspace.

New ideas of employee engagement are needed

We will have employees who would always be remote working with minimal guidance and supervision. We will also have employees who would come to the physical workspace on a need basis or a prefixed periodicity. It is almost certain that most employees will not have a predesignated workspace, lockers and car parks. It is unlikely that one would be able to identify a certain area in the office or the factory to be one’s own!

In the absence of a physical manifestation of the organisation, it is certainly a challenge for the leaders to get their employees to connect to the spirit and purpose of the company. Naturally, it is tough to build a culture of mutual trust and collaboration. Going the extra mile to meet customer demands and innovate new products, services and processes are tougher!

“Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience”, said Paulo Coelho. So, we have to try a few things which consider the ground reality and try making a difference to the members of our teams who dedicate the most of their active life of a day to the company’s business. What are these ideas?

Build Trust with genuine care

Employee engagement experiences are traditionally delivered by the work environment, the camaraderie, fun activities and doing things together at work. Leaders often deliver their personal touches in ways that are visible to the organisation. There are town hall addresses, intranet, pre-recorded video messages, cross-functional teams, annual celebrations, parties, talent shows, events and rewards and recognition programmes.

Given the remote working situation and COVID19-induced economic slowdown, companies and leaders are not in the business as usual mode. So, we need to try various ways of connecting and integrating the employees and their co-residents at their respective homes. We have to gather their opinions, ask them about their experiences and learn about their ideas of taking our organisation’s agenda forward. We have to listen to our customers and suppliers about their experience of dealing with our organisation. These give us tremendous insight into what must be improved in the organisation.

Empower people and develop them

Adults enjoy freedom and independence. Nobody likes to be watched over the shoulders. Some people believed that work-from-home isn’t effective ever; they allowed this facility very sparingly and selectively. Across industry sectors, this belief has been proved to be a myth. Similarly, people believed that training and development efforts have to be in classrooms away from all distractions of work.

Managers have realised that their team members can be trusted with responsibilities. Employees can be trained and coached from a distance if we can overcome a few obstacles on the way. Managers at various levels have understood and practised measuring employee performance even when the employee is working remotely. Technology tools have played a critical role in making all of these happen. Mutual trust for the manager and the team members has improved.

Barring some roles and industry sectors, most companies can allow either all or many of their employees to work remotely. However, some of these companies have struggled to implement remote working. They haven’t been able to deploy the right technology, build the right environment of trust and put the right processes and systems for performance management. We need the strength of the leadership team to drive the change agenda and lead the change from the front.

The post #BuildingTomorrow : Managing Employee Experience in the Future of Workplace appeared first on CIEL HR.

Employees first!

There are multiple factors which enable customer loyalty, the most critical being customer perception about the relevance of the offering and the value vs the price. The customer experience (CX) contributes significantly to the perception and hence, the crucial factor of loyalty. Who designs and delivers the CX? It is the employees of the organisation who study the environment and the customer needs, design and deliver the product or service. Their commitment, dedication and skills decide how well the organisation can deliver the desired CX. Thus, employee engagement comes before customer engagement.

Cadence matters!

Leaders of an organisation need to exhibit consistency in their values and beliefs over decades of their existence. An organisation might change its business model and strategy, diversify into unrelated areas of business and hence, draw a different kind of people, capital and technology. But its core beliefs must not change. One can think of hundreds of values such as integrity, equality, fairness, transparency, societal concern, charity, competitiveness, speed, friendliness, punctuality, customer focus, employee-oriented, process-driven and many more. Each of these can be applied to any business irrespective of the domain and geography it operates in. An organisation typically identifies 3-4 of these as their core beliefs which stand out in the founders’ minds and commits to them for the long term. The business principles, decisions and day to day life at work are guided by these values.

Leaders need to own these up fully and adapt well into their lives at work consistently. Their behaviours flow down the hierarchy; the members of a team see the pattern of behaviours of their boss and adapt them; thus, the culture of the organisation comes about.

Right from recruiting employees, inducting them to work, assigning work to them, measuring their performance, coaching and guiding them, developing them further to how the leaders interact with the stakeholders of the organisation, structure the organisation, build, run and improve the systems and processes get influenced by these beliefs and culture of the organisation.

Read also: What is your mindset?

Focus on customers or profits?

All of us know, it is not an either-or decision. Every business needs customers, profits and long life at the same time. Undoubtedly, we need employees first, set the right environment for them to perform and show them the right way of doing things. However, the enablers have to be in the right places for these employees to deliver the desired CX.

CX is the sum of all moments of truth customers go through. Hence, communication plays a very important role apart from following the approach the organisation believes in. In order to engage our employees well, we need to know what they want and desire; based on our realities and our environmental factors, we design a value proposition for them, present the same and do our best to deliver on that promise consistently at each moment of truth. In the same way, we need to understand our customers’ needs, wants and desires. Based on the resources we can lay our hands-on and the environmental factors, we design a value proposition and communicate the same to them using channels that our customers consume.

Our promise of ‘values vs price’ needs to make sense to the market. Only then, we receive orders from customers to deliver this promise. Our employees play the most crucial role in watching the market and listening to customers – active as well as potential. Based on these insights and the organisation’s resources, systems, processes and beliefs, they develop a promise. Their role doesn’t end here; rather the most important part of engagement starts now. Each moment of truth for the customer has to deliver the promise made. If my promise has built a perception that my offering is innovative, the customer expects us to show innovative ways in which we communicate with them, design and deliver the product or service and handle after-sales engagement.

Read also:  The ideas we did not learn at our B-school

In order to achieve repeat sales and profitable growth, we need a good balance between costs and revenue on a long-term basis. On the contrary, one can build a compelling promise, boost sales and keep costs at a minimum to maximise profits. However, this approach hurts long term prospects of the company.

We need to focus on CX through employee engagement and enabling them with the right structure, systems and processes.

Reference:

https://hbr.org/2012/05/how-to-engage-your-customers-a

https://www.visioncritical.com/blog/employee-engagement-drives-customer-experience

https://cmo.adobe.com/articles/2017/3/brands-culture-and-employees-are-the-foundations-of-success.html#gs.u6y8nz

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Are you looking for ways and techniques to improve the productivity of your employees? Well, any employee can get you the required results if you follow the right tactics to gain their trust and contribute to their needs as well. It can be intimidating at first to initiate several ways but they lead to no good outputs, however using some easy, simple and highly effective ways can not only increase their work productivity but also keep them motivated.

Changing the attitude will bring you fruitful outcomes. Given below are some quick hacks to help you build a wholesome environment at your office as well as get you a better quality work:

Effective Communication with Employees

It is a well-known fact that effective communication is the key to solve all the problems. Why not start communicating with the employees? Sometimes, the quality of work gets affected due to some personal problems that the employees might not share if they do not share a good bond with you. But letting them share their problems will surely lower their burden and motivating them in-turn will only increase employee productivity and build a positive team morale.

Say Yes to Appreciations and Incentives

Appreciations are free, they build confidence and help in improving employee’s performance by boosting the feeling of contentment. Who does not work hard to strive for a small incentive? Incentives are a convenient way to engage employees to work an extra mile to achieve the desired output. Treating your employees as your valuable resources is one thing, but employee recognition paves the way to not just an excellent employee performance but also helps in keeping them in love with the work.

Set your Priorities Right

Most of us lose our path while following our dreams. This happens because we mess with our priorities. This thing can happen with your employees too. In order to protect your employees and getting the best out of them, you need to tell them to get their priorities right. Inform them about how they should proceed with their tasks so as to achieve their goals. Tell them to take necessary breaks so that they don’t feel monotonous. Be a guide to them and see them prosper.

Improve the Workplace- Free Snacks and Gaming

Employees are your most useful taskforce and catering to their needs must be your first priority after earning profits. Making some amendments at the workplace is a simple and easy way to instill trust and healthy work in the employees. Opening some free snacks availability will help the employees to take good care of their health besides performing better in the task that has been assigned to them. Moreover, some sitting jobs become boring as the employees stick to their PCs for the entire day which leads to him feeling monotonous and stressful. A gaming area for employees to refresh and rejuvenate their minds and recover their lost energy is a perfect way to improvise employee efficiency.

Allow Work from Home

Work from home is the best way to help an employee work in the convenience of their home. It is crucial as some employees get stressed in the monotonous environment in the office and need some time to rest and work at the ease of their couches at homes. It is also beneficial to engage to help the employees build a positive mindset about work and get relief from the boring office.

Let in Transparency

It is important to be transparent and clear about their performance in the company. Besides increasing reliability in the employee, it will also lead to improved employee work performance as it will help in employee’s growth and pave a way to a healthy truthful environment in the company.

We are a team – Boost the Spirit

Act as a leader to your employees, not a boss. It will contribute to building a strong relationship among the employees and will help in an unparalleled growth of the company. It is crucial to understand that your employees are your team and so learn the difference between being a boss and a leader to identify what area needs change. Encourage your team for a better goodwill and try to promote enthusiasm in them.

Follow the 2 Minute Rule

This rule is a must-follow and should be highly promoted to be followed by all the employees. The rule says that always complete the work that requires comparatively less time first, so that you have a higher number of tasks accomplished and also, to achieve a better performance. It will not only help the employees to complete their work on time but also lead to implementing a strategic approach to complete the work.

Regular Breaks from Continuous Work

Always remember that ‘All work and no break makes the employees dull’. Therefore, it is essential to engage in the practice of providing regular breaks after a short span of time, say after every hour or 90 minutes. It will help their brains work more effectively as they will get some time off work which will soothe and relax their minds in the best way. It will also pave way to a better work and will help in improving the quality of their work.

Avoid Personal Social Media at work- No distractions at work

It is very important that the employees follow the habit of avoiding their social media distractions at work. Do realize that distractions are the culprits that not just affect the quality of the work but also lead to procrastination of the work. This can be easily implemented by turning off the notifications from their phones or they may also switch off their phones while at work. However, all the platforms that are being used for business communications should be opened via the computers or laptops so that there is no delay in delivering quality work to the managers.

Weekly Reports for assessment and improvement

The management must ensure to follow the weekly assessment and improvement policies so as to reflect a complete work report of the employee and will also enhance their productivity by keeping track of all the factors like delivering work on time, quality of work delivered, maintaining office decorum etc. This will help in building an outstanding workplace that would contribute to the overall development of the employee values and work. A constant feedback plays a pivotal role in getting a scheduled work and fosters a cooperative and productive quality.

It is thus, important to promote a healthy environment in the office that shapes the employee’s goals with the company’s goals and keeps the employee motivated, appreciated and satisfied. This will help in formulating a work environment that has the utmost positivity and functions in an absolutely transparent and holistic approach that will surely get you a productive workforce.

You may also like to read: 5 Ways to Get Your Team Onboard with Time Tracking

Author Bio: Jasika Adams is a writer with a passion for writing on emerging technologies in the areas of human resources, startups and business management. she is a talent acquisition manager currently associated with Index Time Clock. In her free time, she loves to play with her kids and reading mystery books.

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“I volunteer myself for time tracking.”

An employee has rarely said these words.

There are very few things that are met with the same resistance as time tracking. It’s easy to understand where the pushback is coming from. Often, employees feel micromanaged and being spied on. When time tracking policies are not correctly implemented, it creates a cloud of mistrust and a feeling of resentment among employees.

Knowing the possibility of this backlash, many HR managers become hesitant to implement a time tracking system. However, the cost of not doing so is high.

In fact, according to Harvard Business Review, lost time is costing the US economy $7.4 billion per day.

This doesn’t include the opportunity cost of not being able to optimize workplace productivity and make smarter business decisions if time tracking were implemented.

It’s a lose-lose situation. The organization loses money and opportunities, while the employees lose the benefits if their time was properly monitored, recorded, and analyzed.

The reasons why modern workplaces need a time tracking system in place is overwhelming. Yet, resistance among employees is a real issue that HR managers need to solve.

With the right tactics and strategy, you can turn your employees from time tracking skeptics to time tracking believers.

Turn your employees to time tracking believers. Here’s how:

1. Alleviate the Fear of Spying 

No employee is going to respond positively if they know that their managers and supervisors are breathing down their necks, watching their every move. It’s easy for a time tracking policy to create this vibe, and understandably so.

When introducing a time tracking system, clearly communicate that it’s more for tracking projects, rather than tracking individuals. Make sure that no one feels that you’re going on a witch hunt for underperforming employees, but rather, identifying areas for project management optimization. Make sure your team understands that time tracking is a tool that can contribute to the overall success of the entire organization through proper project costing and resource allocation.

2. Emphasize the Benefits to the Payroll System

If there’s one thing employees dislike more than being spied on, it’s receiving inaccurate wages. After putting in hours of hard work, no one likes their salaries shortchanged.

Using manual timesheets is prone to error. According to the American Payroll Association, erroneous work hours calculations based on manually adding employee entries on their timesheets is between 1% to 8%. Additionally, the IRS estimates that 33% of employers make payroll errors that cost them billions of dollars in penalties annually.

With an automated time tracking system in place, these errors can be avoided resulting in more accurate payroll, including payments for overtime. A time tracking software that integrates with your payroll system can also capture needed reimbursements such as out of pocket expenses for employees who frequently travel. It also allows those who work remotely to accurately log their hours for every minute they work.

The benefit of accurately getting paid is a compelling reason for employees to respond positively to time tracking.

3. Highlight the Role Time Tracking Plays in Employee Wellness

Employee burnout is a big concern among organizations across different industries and sizes. The Harvard Business Review reports that 1 in 5 highly engaged employees are in danger of burnout. Many experts call employee burnout an “epidemic.”

How can you use this to get the buy-in from your employees for the implementation of automated time tracking?

While it is true that there are times when work tends to pile up, a huge factor contributing to employee burnout is the lack of thorough project planning. A number of managers underestimate the needed resources and manpower needed to accomplish a project. As a result, employees are forced to work an unhealthy number of extra hours to meet deadlines.

With the use of a time tracking software, it is easy for managers to get access to historical data for past projects and get realistic insight as to how many man-hours are needed to accomplish a project. This allows managers to perform accurate forecasting and prepare contingencies if needed. For example, they could plan and budget in advance for the hiring of freelancers or contingent workers during peak seasons, thereby reducing or eliminating the need for regular employees to put in extra work.

Without time tracking, it is almost impossible to get this data. By positioning time tracking as a tool to prevent employee burnout, your employees will feel that you are looking after their well-being instead of spying on them.

4. Create Clear Guidelines and Feedback Mechanism

When introducing time tracking to your workplace, you cannot just say “Starting today, we’re using time tracking” and leave it at that. For employees to feel protected, you need to establish clear guidelines on how exactly time tracking is going to be used in the workplace.

In your guidelines, enumerate in black and white what activities are going to be tracked. Leave no grey areas for speculation and confusion that could cause conflict later on. Make sure these guidelines are fair. Before you roll out time tracking, it is best to gather some of your key employees to get their feedback and suggestions.

Additionally, make sure that you encourage open dialogue and welcome all employee feedback and possible grievances.

5. Track Your Own Time

There’s a famous line from the hit movie Titanic between the main characters Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

“You jump, I jump.”

If your employees are tracking their time, you should also track your time. In fact, all managers in your organization should track their time.

From a business strategy perspective, it will show you how managers are spending their time, which could also offer insights for better resource allocation. For example, if managers are spending too much time on tactical tasks, new systems can be implemented.

Likewise, tracking your own time will assure your employees that they have nothing to be afraid of and that time tracking is a policy that is being adopted across all ranks. At the very least, it gives you plus points for leading by example.

From Time Tracking Haters to Time Tracking Believers

There will always be a knee-jerk reaction of skepticism from employees when time tracking or an activity monitoring system is introduced into the workplace. It’s human nature to resist anything that poses a potential threat to privacy, whether at home or in the workplace.

However, having an automated time tracking system is a must for any modern business. The negative perceptions toward time tracking are primarily due to initial misconceptions among employees and the failure of employers to communicate its benefits.

By addressing both, it is 100% possible to convert employees from time tracking skeptics to time tracking advocates.

You may also like to read: 5 Ways to Cut Down Employee Attrition

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The levels of job satisfaction and employee engagement can be affected by many factors including rewards, recognition, quality of supervision, social relationship with the workgroup and the extent to which the employee is successful in getting his work done. Job satisfaction and employee engagement can be improved by the following factors:

1. Appropriate rewards and recognition

Associations over the world are heading to enhance hierarchical execution paying little mind to the span of the association or the business. As per Herzberg’s two-factor hypothesis, there are cleanliness factors that should be set up to keep the representatives being disappointed which should be set up, for example, adequate pays for the workers, reasonable and predictable organization arrangements and supervisory practices and proper working conditions for the workers overall. Herzberg facilitate contended that there are particular propelling components that give inspiration and the chance to feel fulfilled to the representatives, for example, the capacity to accomplish, being perceived for compelling and great work and introduction to limited time exercises. Hierarchical execution can be expanded by actualizing administration by goals and utilizing participative style of administration i.e. by drawing in your kin, applying suitable execution assessment and reward frameworks, and improving nature of work and imparting great criticism systems

2. Social relationship with the workgroup

Better social relationship among the representatives will help settle the workplace and will propel the workers to fill in as a group. The group should profit more from agreeable relational correspondence and will bring about enhanced efficiency. This is probably going to show with expanded profitability in the group and a solid group personality and notoriety of the association all in all. The enhanced notoriety for taking care of the workforce may pull in both the financial specialists and the clients who need to be related with a socially dependable association who keeps its representatives fulfilled.

3. Self-achievement of the employees

Hierarchical execution accompanies work fulfillment. Levels of occupation fulfillment can be influenced by numerous variables including rewards, acknowledgment, nature of supervision, social associations with workgroups and degree to which the individual is fruitful in the execution of their obligations. As indicated by Vroom, a standout amongst other administration scholars of his chance, instrumentality (rewards framework) influences inspiration for the expansion in authoritative execution. Administrators must stay faithful to their obligations that they have given of prizes for execution and endeavor to ensure that the representatives trust that the administration will stay faithful to its commitments. Be that as it may, execution targets do not, for the most part, must be money related targets. They can be in different structures, for example, acknowledgment, advancement and so forth.

4. Feedback mechanism regarding the evaluation of the work

Employees require input about their execution. Workers should be conveyed about their genuine execution and their normal execution. Along these lines, they will know their own execution level inside the association. Reward must be kept for employees who work extra time and give productive outcomes. For achievers, pay is a type of input about their execution. High pay and rewards are an estimation of their achievement in accomplishing objectives.

5. Engaging your people

As per the Gallup review, drawing in your representatives to hierarchical objectives is the key component for each business. Representatives can be locked in with their work on the off chance that they are enthusiastic for their work, convey their best execution and fortify their dedication. This can upgrade authoritative execution by a multiplier impact. This should be possible by building a solid comprehension of your business system all through the representatives, building trust and by verifying that all workers are utilizing their coveted arrangement of favored aptitudes. The administration ought to likewise guarantee that all divisions are enhancing its strategies and controls and focusing on its exercises on better accomplishing the organization’s aggressive separation through what the representatives do and how they are getting along it.

6. Using Training and Development

Administration must give appropriate preparing and advancement to the workers to build the productivity of the representatives separately. And they must devise proper trainings and enroll the employees for each division to efficient and top hr courses. Administration must build up a compelling workforce design, preparing, and advancement methodology and create vocation ways for accomplishment of each division. In this way, prompting expanded authoritative execution.

These are one of the key ways to increase job satisfaction and employee engagement within the organization. This will result to increase in organizational performance. Conclusively:

• Spending time developing employees’ skills and potential
• Involving and engaging the workforce through participative management
• Providing frequent and appropriate rewards and recognition
• Providing a positive working environment
• Encouragement and rewarding thoughtful risk-taking
• Investing time in evaluating and measuring job satisfaction
• Taking part in opportunities provided by the organization such as training opportunities
• Organizing work and setting daily goals
• Taking time to revitalize, relax and refresh.

This is essential as jobs that do not offer much variety in their performance and are of a highly repetitive nature are disliked by employees and eventually results in intentional downsizing by the employees or decreased effectiveness. So, these methods are effective for both small and large organizations that are in a stable or an unstable environment. The impact of high job satisfaction will impact numerous stakeholders and will affect the overall performance of the organization.

Hire the best aptness for your organization

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The post The Pursuit of Happiness: What it (Really) Takes to Have happy employees at your Enterprise appeared first on CIEL HR.

You have full time employees and at the same time, employees outsourced through a Temp Agency for certain roles. This strategy of combining full-time roles with temp roles is critical for your long-term sustainability. You stay agile to match the peaks and troughs of business demands; exercise the possibility to hire the best among the temp workforce onto full-time roles; draw upon the expertise and scale of operation of the Temp agency for all the aspects of HR for the Temp employees right from hiring till exit.

The strategy of outsourcing or Temp Staffing works well when the Temp employees are cared for, mainstreamed and aligned with the purpose of the organization. Not only the business sees results in terms of productivity but also builds a sustainable future for itself.

Setting Expectations Right

Most often, the new joiner comes in with a set of expectations about the job, the organization and her days ahead so that the time beyond the contract period becomes brighter. She looks forward to training inputs, careful orientation on the job, freedom to operate, opportunity to learn, transparent practices of performance evaluation, fair targets, rewards and recognition, and many more.

On the other hand, the rank and file in the organization are not clear why some roles are outsourced. They do not know how to onboard the person. They are not sure how to communicate the temporariness of the job and what objectives to set. One is not sure what training is to be provided to the new Temp employee. Many a times, the employee is simply put on the job with a set of tasks. Managers believe, the best way to use Temp Employees is to push them into the water so that they can learn swimming. This approach hurts productivity in the short-term and raises questions on various long-term aspects such as employer brand.

The leaders on the top have to communicate clearly the purpose of temp staffing as a component of their talent strategy and ask upon the leaders at various levels down the line to interact with the temp employees as their own. This is the first and foremost step to engage the Temp Employee.

Dealing with the Dichotomy

Temp employees are on the payrolls of the Temp Agency and not employed by the organization where they are working. They receive instructions from managers and work with colleagues who may be full-time employees to service customers of the organization. The HR policies that govern them are different from those on the full-time roles. They choose to work on a temp role because they value the experience on their resume. They are a cog in the large wheel of the organization in a way similar to a full-time employee is and at the same time, they do not belong to the organization’s payroll. This dichotomy needs to be dealt with appropriately.

Though a Temp employee comes in for a short period of time, plays a role in turning the organizational wheel. It is important that the first-line supervisors provide special care to make the person feel valued and cared for. The person must understand the purpose of organization, its values, the rules of the game, the targets, evaluation process, examples of best performance and potential rewards.

We have seen a handful of organizations deal with the dichotomy very well. They have been able to attract top quality talent for Temp jobs there and retain them for long. Not only their employer brand has emerged strong, they have also been able to create value in the short term.

Temp Agency has a Role to play in Engaging the Temp Employee

Many agencies restrict their role to process payroll, pay employees, remit the statutories and answer queries. They may be doing a fine job as far as the contractual obligation is concerned. However, the organization needs its provider to play its role in executing its talent strategy.

Engaging a Temp Employee is not the exclusive responsibility of the organization. The Agency has a role right from the time recruitment starts. The first step is how the Agency conveys the promise of the employer brand and the employee value proposition to a potential candidate. Failure to make a meaningful pitch denies you the opportunity of getting the best and engaging them. Hence, you need an agency who understands this and has the ability to deliver well on attracting the best talent for you.

Secondly, until the person starts work, there are multiple interfaces that he or she has with the agency. In each interaction, the agency unknowingly sets expectations of certain kind. Since the assignment is short, one doesn’t get an opportunity to clarify and reset these expectations. These expectations when are different from the reality, could create unpleasant surprises and disenchantment leading to low levels of engagement. There is very limited option at the hand of the employee after one starts work. Hence, you need an agency who has the capability of communicating responsibly to the future employees.

Last but not the least, the agency plays a role during the life cycle of the employee working with you. They play the role of HR department for the employee. Are they capable of engaging the employee meaningfully? Do their engagements reflect how you as an organization deal with employees?

We need to think if we are doing a good job in choosing the right agency and engaging them the right way to make sure that the best talent is attracted and retained well. We have to make sure that the Temp employees not only enjoy their stint with us but also advocate us as an employer brand. Talent is indeed a competitive advantage. We must leverage on it. Returns are manifold!

Get Well Qualified People For Your Job

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